DEANSTON FARMS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC271532 · ltd · incorporated 2004-08-03

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 Aug 2025

Net worth

—

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

Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

58 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31
Average employees	0	0

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2026-04-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-17
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-08-14
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-28
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-03-28
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-03-28
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-05-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-05-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-05-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2018-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2017-05-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2004-08-03
🏢
Company incorporated
As DEANSTON FARMS LIMITED
2004-08-03
➕
HASTINGS, Carolyn appointed
secretary
2004-08-03
➕
HASTINGS, Carolyn appointed
director
2004-08-03
➕
HASTINGS, Matthew James Barbour appointed
director
2004-08-03
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-08-03
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — 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 77 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Carolyn Hastings Individual · British · DOB 06/1956 · age 70	25–50%	25–50%	sig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · significant influence	03/08/2016
Mr Matthew James Barbour Hastings Individual · British · DOB 03/1949 · age 77	25–50%	25–50%	sig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · significant influence	03/08/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · DG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
ESKDALE & LIDDESDALE FARMING LIMITED→ SC557451 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
FAIRHILL SERVICES LTD→ SC650165 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
FOREST LOGGING LTD→ SC761162 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
G P FALCONS LIMITED→ SC573973 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
GALLOWAY CATTLE SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND (THE)→ SC009393 · est 1915 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	110y	—	—
GLENCAIRN LAND AND WOODS TRUST LTD.→ SC191497 · est 1998 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	27y	—	—
HALFMARK FARM LTD→ SC748048 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
HARDGRAVE FARM, (DUMFRIES) LIMITED→ SC030389 · est 1954 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	71y	—	—
HIDDLESTON CONTRACTS LIMITED→ SC629626 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
HIGH MILTON FARM LTD→ SC474542 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
J MITCHELL FISHING LIMITED→ SC449149 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
J. & J. SCOTT LIMITED→ SC014584 · est 1927 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	98y	—	—

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

Incorporated2004-08-03

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC01450 — SIC 01450

Registered office

Kopje

The Glen

Dumfries

DG2 8PX

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-17

Last: 2025-08-03

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

HASTINGS, Carolyn→

secretary · appointed 2004-08-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HASTINGS, Carolyn→

director · ~70y · appointed 2004-08-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HASTINGS, Matthew James Barbour→

director · ~77y · appointed 2004-08-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-08-03 · resigned 2004-08-03

Resigned

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

Recent filings (58 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-04-20

change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date

officers · CH03

2025-11-17

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-08-14

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2025-08-14

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-05-16

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-08-15

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-05-29

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-08-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-04-13

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2023-03-28

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2023-03-28

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2023-03-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-08-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2022-05-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-08-11