ASTLEY RATHBONE FARMING LTD

💤Zombieactive
12548932 · ltd · incorporated 2020-04-06
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
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Turnover
year to May 2024
Net worth
£8.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
61/100
Worth a look
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01500
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed agriculture with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 61/100 (worth a look), bankability 55/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (38/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
14 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
61/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
50
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £8,736
Net assets shrinking
Down £3,607 YoY
Cash YoY
-12%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£44k
↓ 12% YoY
Net Worth
£9k
↓ 29% YoY
Current Assets
£283k
↑ 21% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£57k£113k£170k£226k£283kMay 2023May 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-05-312023-05-31
Total assets£66.0k£66.8k
Current assets£282.6k£233.9k
Cash£44.0k£50.1k
Debtors£238.6k£183.8k
Net assets£8.7k£12.3k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals detected in this company's narrative notes — going-concern language, audit opinion, contingent liabilities, related-party transactions.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  4. 2024-04-30
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  5. 2023-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-16
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  8. 2020-04-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ASTLEY RATHBONE FARMING LTD
  9. 2020-04-06
    RATHBONE, Joel Frazer William appointed
    director
  10. 2020-04-06
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "RATHBONE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-02-28

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Joel Frazer William Rathbone
Individual · British · DOB 03/1980 · age 46
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2020

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →
🔒Advanced scoring suite

Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2020-04-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC01500 — SIC 01500

Registered office

The Old Barn Caunton Road
Bathley
Newark
NG23 6DN
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-02-28OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-19
Last: 2026-04-05

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

RATHBONE, Joel Frazer William
director · ~46y · appointed 2020-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Recent filings (14 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-17
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-05-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-30
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2021-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-07
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-04-06