RINGFORD MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC273731 · ltd · incorporated 2004-09-23
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 · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

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 Dec 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 28290
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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 (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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
51 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Average employees00

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-10-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2021-10-04
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-09-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2012-06-01
    ➖
    MARRIOTT, Vivien resigned
    secretary
  17. 2004-09-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As RINGFORD MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED
  18. 2004-09-23
    ➕
    BARBOUR, Alexander James appointed
    director
  19. 2004-09-23
    ➕
    MARRIOTT, Vivien appointed
    secretary
  20. 2004-09-23
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2004-09-23
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — 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 61. 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 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alexander James Barbour
Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/07/2016

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 · Manufacturing · DG postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
EWART ENGINEERING LIMITED→
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£1.94M
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£8.54M—790054y8762y
H & I ENGINEERING LIMITED→
SC053292 · est 1973
———290052y8381y
HODDAM CONTRACTING COMPANY LIMITED→
SC033012 · est 1958
———4868y8360y
JAMES GORDON LIMITED→
SC293893 · est 2005
——£7.20M—20y8376y
A & G KING TIMBER LIMITED→
SC198132 · est 1999
——£7.80M—26y8284y
CASTLE TECHNOLOGIES (STRANRAER) LIMITED→
SC377099 · est 2010
———1216y8258y
DAVID REID LIMITED→
SC292994 · est 2005
——£11.1k—20y8267y
ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED→
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———2550y8258y
EUROPEAN FOREST MACHINERY LIMITED→
SC206862 · est 2000
———026y8268y
J D ENGINEERING (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→
SC204802 · est 2000
———190026y8272y
JAMES KINGAN AND SONS LIMITED→
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——£3.88M—79y8266y
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——£2.61M—19y8269y
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
Incorporated2004-09-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC28290 — SIC 28290

Registered office

26 High Street
Annan
DG12 6AJ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-07
Last: 2025-09-23

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

BARBOUR, Alexander James→
director · ~61y · appointed 2004-09-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MARRIOTT, Vivien→
secretary · appointed 2004-09-23 · resigned 2012-06-01
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-09-23 · resigned 2004-09-23
Resigned

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

Recent filings (51 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-10-04
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-23