DSF (2003) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC144009 · ltd · incorporated 1993-04-22

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

Opportunity decay

approaching window · 12-months

Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.

· Oldest live charge 22.8y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to May 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Activities of head offices

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: conservative operator with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (78/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 22.8y

80/100

ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

· Oldest live charge is 22.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Legal-friction score 20/100 — clean.
· Profitable and stable/growing — lender coverage supportable.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

19 officers (9 active, 19 linked, 13 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

6 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

142 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Profitable

Profit before tax £988,500

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	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Profit before tax	£988.5k	£920.0k
Average employees	7	700

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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (50 events)Click to expand

2025-11-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-15
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-27
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-06-03
➕
WILSON, Trevor Robert appointed
director
2024-04-24
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2024-04-24
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-01-03
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-01-03
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-12-18
➖
BELL, Geoffrey Malcolm resigned
director
2023-12-18
➖
PARKIN, Neale Andrew resigned
director
2023-10-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-02
📄
change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH04
2021-01-05
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-01-05
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-01-01
➕
FLOWER, Janette Rachel appointed
director
2021-01-01
➕
HANDLEY, Matthew Robert appointed
director
2020-11-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-31
➖
WHITEHURST, Russell resigned
director
2017-07-18
➕
WINDLE, Christopher James appointed
director
2012-04-27
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2011-11-16
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
2011-11-01
➕
BEARN, Philip Arthur appointed
secretary
2005-06-01
➕
BEARN, Philip Arthur appointed
director
2005-06-01
➕
WHELPTON, Christopher John appointed
director
2005-03-31
➖
CATTERALL, John resigned
director
2004-08-01
➕
BURNESS PAULL LLP appointed
corporate-secretary
2004-08-01
➖
BURNESS SOLICITORS resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-08-07
➕
HUTCHINSON, Paul Malcolm appointed
director
2003-08-07
➖
CATTERALL, John resigned
secretary
2003-08-07
➕
BURNESS SOLICITORS appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-08-07
➕
BELL, Geoffrey Malcolm appointed
director
2003-08-07
➕
PARKIN, Neale Andrew appointed
director
2003-08-07
➖
RITCHIE, Alastair James resigned
director
2003-08-07
➖
WHELPTON, Derek Andrew resigned
director
2003-08-07
➕
WHITEHURST, Russell appointed
director
2003-08-07
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1993-06-08
➕
CATTERALL, John appointed
secretary
1993-06-08
➖
BURNESS SOLICITORS resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1993-06-08
➕
CATTERALL, John appointed
director
1993-06-08
➕
RITCHIE, Alastair James appointed
director
1993-06-08
➕
WHELPTON, Derek Andrew appointed
director
1993-06-08
➖
WJB (DIRECTORS) LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1993-04-22
🏢
Company incorporated
As DSF (2003) LIMITED
1993-04-22
➕
BURNESS SOLICITORS appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1993-04-22
➕
WJB (DIRECTORS) LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

58/100

Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS

-7 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

60/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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.)

Group structure

Dsf Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Dsf Holdings Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

DSF (2003) LIMITED

This company · SC144009

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Dsf Holdings Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES EDINBURGH LIMITED→ SC091725 · est 1985	£131.60M £96.97M–£166.24M	£135.39M	—	135900	41y	85	67y
ROBERTSON EDUCATION (ABERDEENSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC209010 · est 2000	£5.47M £4.03M–£6.91M	—	—	0	25y	85	60y
FCC (EAST AYRSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC300470 · est 2006	£3.99M £2.94M–£5.03M	—	—	0	20y	87	60y
BLYTH & BLYTH CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED→ SC241155 · est 2002	£2.78M £2.05M–£3.52M	—	—	93	23y	87	85y
SIBCAS LIMITED→ SC052604 · est 1973	£1.88M £1.39M–£2.38M	—	—	165	53y	88	68y
HORIZON (GP) LIMITED→ SC493523 · est 2014	£45.2k £33.3k–£57.1k	—	—	6	11y	95	66y
BURNDENE INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC015613 · est 1929	£14.3k £10.5k–£18.0k	—	—	0	96y	83	63y
3 ED HOLDINGS 2 LIMITED→ SC328040 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	83	65y
ABACUS FINANCIAL MARKETING LIMITED→ SC197503 · est 1999	—	—	£3.4k	—	26y	83	59y
ACCOUNTING & TAXATION SERVICE LTD→ SC360357 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	83	58y
BRINDLEY ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC290803 · est 2005	—	—	—	1300	20y	83	59y
CALECON (HOLDINGS) LIMITED→ SC325563 · est 2007	—	—	—	0	18y	83	64y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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

Incorporated1993-04-22

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC70100 — Activities of head offices

Registered office

50 Lothian Road

Edinburgh

Midlothian

EH3 9WJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-24

Last: 2026-04-10