RUTHERFORD & CO LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC537892 · ltd · incorporated 2016-06-14
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 71/100 (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 (58/100).

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
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
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
22 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
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£0Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 dissolution
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 gazette
  • 1 dissolution
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-17
    📄
    gazette-notice-voluntary
    gazette · GAZ1(A)
  2. 2026-02-09
    📄
    dissolution-application-strike-off-company
    dissolution · DS01
  3. 2025-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-03-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-06-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-03-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-03-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-02-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-06-27
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2016-06-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As RUTHERFORD & CO LIMITED
  14. 2016-06-14
    RUTHERFORD, David appointed
    director
  15. 2016-06-14
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "RUTHERFORD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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 David Rutherford
Individual · Scottish · DOB 01/1969 · age 57
75100%
75-100% shares01/07/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2016-06-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

6 Loanhead Street
Kilmarnock
Ayrshire
KA1 3AU
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-27
Last: 2025-06-13

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

RUTHERFORD, David
director · ~57y · appointed 2016-06-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (22 total)

gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2026-02-17
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2026-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-07-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-03-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-03-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-03-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-06-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-03-25