A. DUKES BUILDERS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04429864 · ltd · incorporated 2002-05-02
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£191.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
68/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Construction of domestic buildings
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed construction with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 68/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -96% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 18.8y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 18.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
67 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
68/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £191,495
Net assets shrinking
Down £170 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 96% YoY
Cash YoY
-96%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£805
↓ 96% YoY
Net Worth
£191k
~ YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£38k£77k£115k£153k£192kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£196.7k£208.7k
Current assets—£22.2k
Cash£805£22.2k
Net assets£191.5k£191.7k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-25
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-03-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2025-03-25
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2025-03-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-06-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2023-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-05-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2022-02-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-11-30
    ➖
    COOKE, James Michael resigned
    director
  12. 2021-05-05
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2021-05-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2021-05-05
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2021-04-26
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2021-02-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2020-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2019-06-07
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  19. 2018-10-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2017-05-24
    ➕
    COOKE, James Michael appointed
    director
  21. 2010-01-04
    ➖
    DUKES, Andrea resigned
    secretary
  22. 2007-07-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  23. 2002-05-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A. DUKES BUILDERS LIMITED
  24. 2002-05-02
    ➕
    DUKES, Alastair Ryan appointed
    director
  25. 2002-05-02
    ➕
    DUKES, Andrea appointed
    secretary
  26. 2002-05-02
    ➕
    WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2002-05-02
    ➖
    WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2002-05-02
    ➕
    WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  29. 2002-05-02
    ➖
    WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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 "DUKES" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-05-16

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alastair Ryan Dukes
Individual · British · DOB 02/1970 · age 56
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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A J P HOMES LIMITED→
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07803748 · est 2011 · no financials extracted
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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
Incorporated2002-05-02
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC41202 — Construction of domestic buildings

Registered office

Badger Bank
Westow
York
North Yorkshire
YO60 7LG
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-16OVERDUE
Last: 2025-05-02

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

DUKES, Alastair Ryan→
director · ~56y · appointed 2002-05-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUKES, Andrea→
secretary · appointed 2002-05-02 · resigned 2010-01-04
Resigned
WATERLOW SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-05-02 · resigned 2002-05-02
Resigned
COOKE, James Michael→
director · ~51y · appointed 2017-05-24 · resigned 2021-11-30
Resigned
WATERLOW NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-05-02 · resigned 2002-05-02
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Legal charge1 property19/07/2007—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (67 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-03-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-03-25
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-03-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-26
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-04
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-13