HERDHILL FARMS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC186157 · ltd · incorporated 1998-05-27
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
77 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees200200

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-07
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2022-10-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-11-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-10-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-06-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-05-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-08-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-06-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2009-08-12
    ➕
    GRANT, Lynda Jean appointed
    director
  18. 1998-06-16
    ➕
    GRANT, Lynda appointed
    secretary
  19. 1998-06-16
    ➕
    GRANT, John Robertson appointed
    director
  20. 1998-06-16
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 1998-06-16
    ➖
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  22. 1998-05-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HERDHILL FARMS LIMITED
  23. 1998-05-27
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1998-05-27
    ➕
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Lynda Jean Grant
Individual · British · DOB 12/1955 · age 71
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016
Mr John Robertson Grant
Individual · British · DOB 09/1955 · age 71
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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

7 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
Incorporated1998-05-27
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

Reedie Farm
Kirriemuir
Angus
DD8 5LX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-10
Last: 2025-05-27

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

GRANT, Lynda→
secretary · appointed 1998-06-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GRANT, John Robertson→
director · ~73y · appointed 1998-06-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GRANT, Lynda Jean→
director · ~71y · appointed 2009-08-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-05-27 · resigned 1998-06-16
Resigned
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-05-27 · resigned 1998-06-16
Resigned

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

Recent filings (77 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-06