D W DRENNAN BUILDING SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC455984 · ltd · incorporated 2013-08-02
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 Aug 2024
Net worth
£-755
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

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 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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, 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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
24 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £755
Net assets shrinking
Down £11,716 YoY
Cash YoY
+64%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£25k
↑ 64% YoY
Net Worth
-£755
↓ 107% YoY
Current Assets
£36k
↓ 19% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£755£8k£17k£26k£35k£44kAug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Total assets£3.6k£16.3k
Current assets£36.0k£44.5k
Cash£24.7k£15.1k
Debtors£11.2k£29.4k
Net assets£-755£11.0k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (16 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-08-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-05-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2014-08-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2013-08-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As D W DRENNAN BUILDING SERVICES LIMITED
  15. 2013-08-02
    CARLYLE, Neil appointed
    director
  16. 2013-08-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
  • 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 Neil Carlyle
Individual · British · DOB 08/1962 · age 64
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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 · DG postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
BELL LAWRIE OF BIGGAR (DEVELOPMENTS) LIMITED
SC099927 · est 1986 · no financials extracted
39y
BLADUM ROUGHCASTERS LTD
SC840498 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
1y
BORDER HOMES LTD
SC388242 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
15y
BRC CONSTRUCTION LIMITED
SC832511 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
1y
BUILDING FUTURES GALLOWAY (TRAINING) LIMITED
SC741111 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
3y
CONSENSUS MANAGEMENT LIMITED
SC207701 · est 2000 · no financials extracted
25y
CRJ CONSTRUCTION & JOINERY LIMITED
SC640505 · est 2019 · no financials extracted
6y
D & G GAS SERVICES LTD
SC670072 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
5y
D W CONSTRUCTION AND JOINERY LIMITED
SC262529 · est 2004 · no financials extracted
22y
D.G. HEUCHAN CONSTRUCTION LTD.
SC188621 · est 1998 · no financials extracted
27y
DAES CIVILS LIMITED
SC798291 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
2y
DALRYMPLE DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED
SC764098 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
3y
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
Incorporated2013-08-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC41202 — Construction of domestic buildings

Registered office

Apsley House
6 Wellington Street
Annan
Dumfries And Galloway
DG12 5BH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-16
Last: 2025-08-02

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CARLYLE, Neil
director · ~64y · appointed 2013-08-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (24 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-09-27