301 DESIGN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
03424797 · ltd · incorporated 1997-08-26
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 Sept 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
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
76 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£0Sept 2023Sept 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-09-302023-09-30
Average employees100100

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 (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-27
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  2. 2025-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-05-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2020-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-04-20
    ➖
    SPENCE, Nicholas Andrew resigned
    secretary
  12. 2018-04-20
    ➖
    SPENCE, Nicholas Andrew resigned
    director
  13. 2018-04-20
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  14. 2018-04-20
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2018-04-20
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  16. 2017-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-09-02
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  18. 2016-09-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  19. 1997-08-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 301 DESIGN LIMITED
  20. 1997-08-26
    ➕
    BOXALL, David appointed
    director
  21. 1997-08-26
    ➕
    SPENCE, Nicholas Andrew appointed
    secretary
  22. 1997-08-26
    ➕
    WAYNE, Harold appointed
    nominee-secretary
  23. 1997-08-26
    ➖
    WAYNE, Harold resigned
    nominee-secretary
  24. 1997-08-26
    ➕
    SPENCE, Nicholas Andrew appointed
    director
  25. 1997-08-26
    ➕
    WAYNE, Yvonne appointed
    nominee-director
  26. 1997-08-26
    ➖
    WAYNE, Yvonne resigned
    nominee-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 29 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 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Boxall
Individual · British · DOB 03/1964 · age 62
25–50%
—25-50% shares26/08/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Nicholas Andrew Spenceceased 20/04/2018· 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

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
Incorporated1997-08-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

31 Wisborough Road
South Croydon
Surrey
CR2 0DR
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-09
Last: 2025-08-26

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

BOXALL, David→
director · ~62y · appointed 1997-08-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SPENCE, Nicholas Andrew→
secretary · appointed 1997-08-26 · resigned 2018-04-20
Resigned
WAYNE, Harold→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-08-26 · resigned 1997-08-26
Resigned
SPENCE, Nicholas Andrew→
director · ~52y · appointed 1997-08-26 · resigned 2018-04-20
Resigned
WAYNE, Yvonne→
nominee-director · ~46y · appointed 1997-08-26 · resigned 1997-08-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (76 total)

change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2025-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-02