AB DESIGN CONSULTANTS LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC576345 · ltd · incorporated 2017-09-14
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 78). 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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
21 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
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£9k£18k£26k£35k£44kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£44.1k
Current assets£44.1k
Net assets£44.1k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-12
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  4. 2023-12-05
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  5. 2023-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-08-30
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  8. 2022-08-20
    BIRRELL, Laraine resigned
    secretary
  9. 2021-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-11-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-09-15
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2019-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-06-03
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2017-09-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AB DESIGN CONSULTANTS LTD.
  15. 2017-09-14
    BIRRELL, Alexander appointed
    director
  16. 2017-09-14
    BIRRELL, Laraine appointed
    secretary
  17. 2017-09-14
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

90/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
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 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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
Alexander Birrell
Individual · British · DOB 12/1948 · age 78
2550%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control14/09/2017
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Laraine Birrellceased 01/01/2020· 25-50% shares

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

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
Incorporated2017-09-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

30 Duke Street
Clackmannan
FK10 4EF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-27
Last: 2025-09-13

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

BIRRELL, Alexander
director · ~78y · appointed 2017-09-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BIRRELL, Laraine
secretary · appointed 2017-09-14 · resigned 2022-08-20
Resigned

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

Recent filings (21 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-30
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-12-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-11
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-12-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-28
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2022-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-15