109 DESIGN LTD
💤Zombieactive
08959509 · ltd · incorporated 2014-03-26
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£2.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Specialised design activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 73/100 (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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £2,576
Cash YoY
+549%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£4k
↑ 549% YoY
Net Worth
£3k
↑ 3120% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £2.6k | £80 |
| Cash | £3.9k | £604 |
| Net assets | £2.6k | £80 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-11-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-28📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-03-28📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-03-13📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2016-08-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-18📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-03-26🏢Company incorporatedAs 109 DESIGN LTD
- 2014-03-26➕SMITH, James Edward appointeddirector
Owner dependency
80/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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.
- +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
58/100
Strong succession signalMultiple 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Miss Sara Janine Taylor Individual · British · DOB 01/1971 · age 55 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 22/03/2018 |
Mr James Edward Smith Individual · British · DOB 03/1974 · age 52 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930H CONSULTING LTD→ 16320054 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1ST CHOICE WASTE & METALS LIMITED→ 05592770 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| 1XINTERNET LIMITED→ 16435203 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2CO ADVISORS LTD→ 14209235 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| 332 MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY LTD→ 14649288 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| 3A TECHNOLOGY LIMITED→ 05742857 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| 3D MEP LTD→ 13885321 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| 3D PRECISION LIMITED→ 12466436 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| 500 WORDS LTD→ 08893252 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| 7 WAYS RENTAL.COM LIMITED→ 05667445 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| 7.4 LIMITED→ 05465062 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| 786 ALI ACCOUNTANTS LTD→ 05606257 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2014-03-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC74100 — Specialised design activities
Registered office
48 Union Street
Hyde
SK14 1ND
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-09
Last: 2026-03-26
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
SMITH, James Edward→
Activedirector · ~52y · appointed 2014-03-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (28 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-03-26