ANDREW DOBSON ARCHITECTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
06449196 · ltd · incorporated 2007-12-10
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 2025
Net worth
£126.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 16.3y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 16.3 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
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
60 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red 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 £126,179
Net assets shrinking
Down £51,238 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£126k
↓ 29% YoY
Current Assets
£159k
↓ 34% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£48k£96k£143k£191k£239kDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Total assets£126.2k£177.4k
Current assets£158.7k£238.8k
Net assets£126.2k£177.4k

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-12-14
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2023-04-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-10-19
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  7. 2022-10-14
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  8. 2022-10-14
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  9. 2022-10-14
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  10. 2022-05-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-09-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2019-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-07-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-05-28
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  18. 2010-10-01
    MATTHEWS, Vanessa Helen resigned
    secretary
  19. 2010-03-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Milton (Bvi) Limited
  20. 2007-12-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ANDREW DOBSON ARCHITECTS LIMITED
  21. 2007-12-10
    DOBSON, Andrew Mark appointed
    director
  22. 2007-12-10
    MATTHEWS, Vanessa Helen appointed
    secretary

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 "DOBSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
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.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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.)

Group structure

Adrest Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Adrest Ltd
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
ANDREW DOBSON ARCHITECTS LIMITED
This company · 06449196

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Adrest Ltd
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control12/10/2022
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Andrew Mark Dobsonceased 12/10/2022· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control

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
Incorporated2007-12-10
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

Studio 316 Metal Box Factory
30 Great Guildford Street
London
SE1 0HS
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-24
Last: 2025-12-10

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

DOBSON, Andrew Mark
director · ~51y · appointed 2007-12-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MATTHEWS, Vanessa Helen
secretary · appointed 2007-12-10 · resigned 2010-10-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Milton (Bvi)
Milton (Bvi) Limited
Cash deposit deed1 property12/03/201028/05/2015

Recent filings (60 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-12
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2022-10-19
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2022-10-14
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-10-14
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2022-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-16