DUNBAR ON-LINE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC174076 · ltd · incorporated 1997-04-03

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.

Why now

Window steady · high confidence

Thesis has shifted recently — watch for confirmation.

· Lifecycle stage: mature → zombie
· Investment thesis: well_run_hard_buy → zombie_hold
· Deal-killer verdict: clean → workable
· Hygiene score: 90 → 85

Opportunity decay

drifting distress · 6-months

Drifting toward distress — expect more negotiability in 3–6 months, but also more friction.

· Lifecycle stage drifting downward
· Currently "zombie"

What changed my view

Last 30 days

Mixed signals in the last 30 days — 1 improved, 2 worsened.

↓Lifecycle stage: mature → zombie
·Investment thesis: well_run_hard_buy → zombie_hold
↑Deal-killer verdict: clean → workable
↓Hygiene score: 90 → 85

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Information technology consultancy activities

Sector: Information & communication

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

69202Bookkeeping activities
70229Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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 (79/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 3 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

6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

4 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

74 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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30

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 officers

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand

2026-05-06
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-04-23
➖
DONALD, Sara Carine Telford resigned
director
2026-01-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-15
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-15
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2023-01-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-08
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-02-08
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-01-22
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-23
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-03-31
➖
DONALD, John Albert resigned
director
2020-01-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2006-05-01
➕
DONALD, Sara Carine Telford appointed
director
1997-04-03
🏢
Company incorporated
As DUNBAR ON-LINE LIMITED
1997-04-03
➕
DONALD, Rebecca appointed
secretary
1997-04-03
➕
DONALD, Rebecca appointed
director
1997-04-03
➕
ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1997-04-03
➖
ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1997-04-03
➕
DONALD, John Albert appointed
director
1997-04-03
➕
ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1997-04-03
➖
ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
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.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — 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 72 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 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Rebecca Donald Individual · British · DOB 12/1954 · age 72	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	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 · Technology · PH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
COMPUTER CABLE NETWORKS LIMITED→ SC271714 · est 2004	—	—	£36.3k	—	21y	83	64y
HURRICANE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED→ SC218261 · est 2001	—	—	£101.2k	—	25y	83	62y
DENKI LIMITED→ SC202506 · est 1999	—	—	—	2	26y	82	61y
IP CLARITY LIMITED→ SC284487 · est 2005	—	—	£6.7k	—	21y	82	59y
LOCHABER CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU→ SC128069 · est 1990 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	35y	81	83y
ALPINE ENTERPRISES LIMITED→ SC273861 · est 2004	—	—	—	0	21y	80	63y
ATHOLE DESIGN & PUBLISHING LTD.→ SC251594 · est 2003	—	—	—	300	22y	80	66y
BERG DESIGN LIMITED→ SC239448 · est 2002	—	—	£4.0k	—	23y	80	72y
CENTRAL SCOTLAND NEWS AGENCY LIMITED→ SC245499 · est 2003	—	—	£3.7k	—	23y	80	72y
COLJAM CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ SC142137 · est 1993	—	—	—	1	33y	80	72y
CYBER SERVICES LIMITED→ SC138027 · est 1992	—	—	£3.0k	—	34y	80	58y
EASTSHORE LIMITED→ SC202620 · est 1999	—	—	—	0	26y	80	58y

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

Incorporated1997-04-03

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC62020 — Information technology consultancy activities

Registered office

Dunollie

Back Of Keppoch

Arisaig

PH39 4NS

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-17

Last: 2026-04-03

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

DONALD, Rebecca→

secretary · appointed 1997-04-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DONALD, Rebecca→

director · ~72y · appointed 1997-04-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-04-03 · resigned 1997-04-03

Resigned

DONALD, John Albert→

director · ~75y · appointed 1997-04-03 · resigned 2020-03-31

Resigned

DONALD, Sara Carine Telford→

director · ~40y · appointed 2006-05-01 · resigned 2026-04-23

Resigned

ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-04-03 · resigned 1997-04-03

Resigned

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

Recent filings (74 total)

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2026-05-06

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-04-03

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2026-01-26

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-05-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-01-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-04-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-01-17

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

officers · CH01

2023-04-15

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

officers · CH03

2023-04-15

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-04-15

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-01-11

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-05-10

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

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2022-02-08

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

officers · CH01

2022-02-08

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

address · AD01

2022-01-22