ASPEN DESIGN AND BUILD LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC219566 · ltd · incorporated 2001-05-25

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 Jul 2025

Net worth

£-28.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Construction of domestic buildings

Sector: Construction

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 16.3y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 16.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

60 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

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

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £28,250

Cash YoY

+69%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£20k

↑ 69% YoY

Net Worth

-£28k

↑ 41% YoY

Current Assets

£27k

↓ 64% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Total assets	£-20.6k	£-34.0k
Current assets	£27.0k	£75.1k
Cash	£20.1k	£11.9k
Debtors	£6.9k	£63.2k
Net assets	£-28.3k	£-47.6k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2026-03-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-11-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-11-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-06-08
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-05-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-10-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2011-02-23
➕
DRYSDALE, Brian appointed
secretary
2011-02-23
➖
MACARTHUR, Allison resigned
secretary
2010-01-21
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2002-06-15
➕
MACARTHUR, Allison appointed
secretary
2002-05-26
➖
MORGAN WEBSTER LAWRIE (SECRETARIES) LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2001-05-28
➕
MACARTHUR, Duncan appointed
director
2001-05-28
➖
MWL DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
corporate-director
2001-05-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As ASPEN DESIGN AND BUILD LIMITED
2001-05-25
➕
MORGAN WEBSTER LAWRIE (SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2001-05-25
➕
MWL DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
corporate-director

Owner dependency

93/100

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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Duncan Macarthur Individual · British · DOB 07/1964 · age 62	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	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 · Construction · IV postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
ALASDAIR I CAMPBELL LIMITED→ SC338178 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	—	—
ALEKSANDR ENTERPRISES LIMITED→ SC811100 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
ALFIN JOINERY LTD→ SC865226 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ALRON BUILDING SERVICES LTD.→ SC388852 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
AMBIT CALEDONIAN LIMITED→ SC097497 · est 1986 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	40y	—	—
AMP HEATING & PLUMBING SERVICES LTD→ SC747778 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
ANGUS CHISHOLM (HIGHLAND) LIMITED→ SC303042 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	—	—
APEX RENEWABLES LTD→ SC454815 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
ARNDALE CONSTRUCTION LTD→ SC866696 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ARTDEC LTD→ SC740913 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
AT GAS AND OIL SERVICES LIMITED→ SC496225 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
ATF JOINERY & BUILDING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC675199 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—

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

Incorporated2001-05-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC41202 — Construction of domestic buildings

Registered office

In Business Centre

24 Longman Drive

Inverness

Highland

IV1 1SU

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-25

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-08

Last: 2025-05-25

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

DRYSDALE, Brian→

secretary · appointed 2011-02-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACARTHUR, Duncan→

director · ~62y · appointed 2001-05-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACARTHUR, Allison→

secretary · appointed 2002-06-15 · resigned 2011-02-23

Resigned

MORGAN WEBSTER LAWRIE (SECRETARIES) LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2001-05-25 · resigned 2002-05-26

Resigned

MWL DIRECTORS LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 2001-05-25 · resigned 2001-05-28

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Floating charge	1 property	21/01/2010	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.