AR DESIGNS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04464859 · ltd · incorporated 2002-06-19
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 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 32120
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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 (75/100)

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, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
65 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£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-05-29
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2024-05-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2023-05-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-04-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-06-29
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2017-06-29
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2017-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2012-05-31
    ➖
    SRC TAXATION CONSULTANCY LTD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  17. 2007-05-05
    ➖
    CROUCH, Stephen Russell resigned
    secretary
  18. 2007-05-05
    ➕
    SRC TAXATION CONSULTANCY LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2002-07-02
    ➕
    RUTLIN, Annika Elisabeth appointed
    director
  20. 2002-07-02
    ➕
    CROUCH, Stephen Russell appointed
    secretary
  21. 2002-06-20
    ➖
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2002-06-20
    ➖
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2002-06-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AR DESIGNS LIMITED
  24. 2002-06-19
    ➕
    BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2002-06-19
    ➕
    BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED appointed
    corporate-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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — 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 58. 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 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.
  • 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
Mrs Annika Elisabeth Rutlin
Individual · Norwegian · DOB 11/1968 · age 58
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated2002-06-19
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC32120 — SIC 32120

Registered office

45 The Lookout
Peacehaven
Brighton
East Sussex
BN10 8AA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-24
Last: 2026-06-10

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

RUTLIN, Annika Elisabeth→
director · ~58y · appointed 2002-07-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CROUCH, Stephen Russell→
secretary · appointed 2002-07-02 · resigned 2007-05-05
Resigned
BRIGHTON SECRETARY LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-06-19 · resigned 2002-06-20
Resigned
SRC TAXATION CONSULTANCY LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-05-05 · resigned 2012-05-31
Resigned
BRIGHTON DIRECTOR LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-06-19 · resigned 2002-06-20
Resigned

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

Recent filings (65 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-29
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-05-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-16