W KERR FARMING LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC368536 · ltd · incorporated 2009-11-13
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 Oct 2024
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. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
43 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£0Oct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Average employees00

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 (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  4. 2023-11-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  5. 2023-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-07-12
    ➕
    KERR, Jack Bentinck appointed
    director
  7. 2023-07-12
    ➕
    KERR, Rowena Jane appointed
    director
  8. 2022-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-01-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2021-11-26
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2021-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-05-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-11-16
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2018-11-16
    📄
    withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statement
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC09
  16. 2018-07-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2010-02-22
    ➕
    KERR, Charles Balfour appointed
    director
  19. 2009-11-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As W KERR FARMING LIMITED
  20. 2009-11-13
    ➕
    KERR, William Edward appointed
    director

Owner dependency

88/100
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
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "KERR" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

23/100
No succession signal

No meaningful acquirability indicators from public data.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — KERR, Jack Bentinck (same surname) appointed 2023-07-12. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr William Edward Kerr
Individual · British · DOB 03/1958 · age 68
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/11/2017

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · EH postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
CRAIGENGILLAN ESTATES (NO 1) COMPANY LIMITED→
SC124520 · est 1990
£3.87M
£2.98M–£4.77M
——036y8363y
APF INTERNATIONAL FOREST MACHINERY EXHIBITION LTD.→
SC228249 · est 2002
£278.2k
£214.0k–£342.4k
——50024y9579y
ALDERSTON DAIRIES LIMITED→
SC241138 · est 2002
——£114.4k—23y8374y
CAITHNESS POTATO BREEDERS LIMITED→
SC082730 · est 1983
——£1.36M—43y8368y
CARCANT ESTATES LIMITED→
SC030457 · est 1954
——£269.0k—71y8369y
DENHOLM POTATO GROWERS LIMITED→
SC089295 · est 1984
——£453.8k—41y8361y
DODS OF HADDINGTON LIMITED→
SC056452 · est 1974
——£2.26M—51y8372y
EAST COAST ORGANICS LTD→
SC297585 · est 2006
——£1.21M—20y8363y
EAST LOTHIAN PRODUCE LIMITED→
SC185473 · est 1998
——£8.19M—28y8373y
GREENSHIELDS AGRI LIMITED→
SC381819 · est 2010
———1415y8370y
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———100029y8378y
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SC350956 · est 2008
———017y8267y
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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2009-11-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01110 — Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds

Registered office

8 St Ann's Place
Haddington
East Lothian
Scotland
EH41 4BS
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-13
Last: 2025-10-30

Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)

KERR, Charles Balfour→
director · ~36y · appointed 2010-02-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KERR, Jack Bentinck→
director · ~39y · appointed 2023-07-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KERR, Rowena Jane→
director · ~32y · appointed 2023-07-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
KERR, William Edward→
director · ~68y · appointed 2009-11-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (43 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-22
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-08
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-01-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-11-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-19