4D (UK) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
08831019 · ltd · incorporated 2014-01-03
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
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. 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).

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, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
40 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-30
Average employees2200

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-09-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  5. 2023-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-10-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2022-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-07-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2021-07-15
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2021-07-06
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2021-07-06
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2021-07-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2020-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-03-05
    ➖
    DOUGHTY, Laura Ann resigned
    director
  17. 2019-03-05
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  18. 2019-03-05
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  19. 2019-03-05
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  20. 2019-02-10
    ➕
    DOUGHTY, Laura Ann appointed
    director
  21. 2014-01-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 4D (UK) LIMITED
  22. 2014-01-03
    ➕
    DOUGHTY, Anthony appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
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 12 years.
  • 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
Mr Anthony Thomas Doughty
Individual · British · DOB 05/1984 · age 42
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
Incorporated2014-01-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

31a Newton Nottage Road
Porthcawl
CF36 5PF
Wales

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-17
Last: 2026-01-03

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

DOUGHTY, Anthony→
director · ~42y · appointed 2014-01-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DOUGHTY, Laura Ann→
director · ~39y · appointed 2019-02-10 · resigned 2019-03-05
Resigned

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

Recent filings (40 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-07
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-25
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-10-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-01
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-07-15
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-07-15