BARKER FARMS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC152679 · ltd · incorporated 1994-08-24
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£2.70M
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 01450
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 82-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 82). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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 (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
83 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £2,701,289
Cash YoY
+9%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£2.2m
↑ 9.5% YoY
Net Worth
£2.7m
↑ 6.7% YoY
Current Assets
£2.7m
↑ 6.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£544k£1.1m£1.6m£2.2m£2.7mMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£2.71M£2.54M
Current assets£2.72M£2.56M
Cash£2.22M£2.03M
Debtors£335.6k£399.8k
Net assets£2.70M£2.53M

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 (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-29
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  2. 2025-09-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-07-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-06-04
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  6. 2024-05-10
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2024-05-10
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  8. 2024-05-10
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2024-04-18
    ➖
    BARKER, Wendy Anne resigned
    secretary
  10. 2024-04-18
    ➖
    BARKER, Wendy Anne resigned
    director
  11. 2023-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2022-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-07-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-03-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2018-08-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 1994-09-02
    ➕
    BARKER, John appointed
    director
  20. 1994-09-02
    ➕
    BARKER, Wendy Anne appointed
    secretary
  21. 1994-09-02
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 1994-09-02
    ➕
    BARKER, Wendy Anne appointed
    director
  23. 1994-09-02
    ➖
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 1994-08-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BARKER FARMS LIMITED
  25. 1994-08-24
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 1994-08-24
    ➕
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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 "BARKER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 82 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 82 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 32 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 32 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Barker
Individual · British · DOB 12/1944 · age 82
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mrs Wendy Anne Barker Deceasedceased 27/08/2025· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Mrs Wendy Anne Barkerceased 18/04/2024· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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

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A A HENRY & SONS LIMITED→
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————7y——
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AD CONTRACTING LIMITED→
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————9y——
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SC533308 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
————9y——
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SC287999 · est 2005 · no financials extracted
————20y——
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SC578282 · est 2017 · no financials extracted
————8y——
BACKFELL FARM LIMITED→
SC233181 · est 2002 · no financials extracted
————23y——
BACOL→
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———————
BALKER FARMS LIMITED→
SC097004 · est 1986 · no financials extracted
————40y——
BARNKIRK LTD→
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BARSHILL FARM LTD→
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BEACOM FARMS LIMITED→
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated1994-08-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01450 — SIC 01450

Registered office

Capplegill
,
Moffat
Dumfriesshire
DG10 9LQ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-07
Last: 2025-08-24

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

BARKER, John→
director · ~82y · appointed 1994-09-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BARKER, Wendy Anne→
secretary · appointed 1994-09-02 · resigned 2024-04-18
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1994-08-24 · resigned 1994-09-02
Resigned
BARKER, Wendy Anne→
director · ~87y · appointed 1994-09-02 · resigned 2024-04-18
Resigned
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1994-08-24 · resigned 1994-09-02
Resigned

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

Recent filings (83 total)

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-09-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-17
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-06-04
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-05-10
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-05-10
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-05-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-31