3ADESIGN LTD

💤Zombieactive
09984802 · ltd · incorporated 2016-02-03
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Engineering design activities for industrial process and production
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (73/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
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 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-30
Average employees2200

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 2 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  3. 2025-10-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-02-10
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  7. 2022-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-05-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2020-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-01-07
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2019-11-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-07-22
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  14. 2019-06-18
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2019-06-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2018-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-02-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 3ADESIGN LTD
  18. 2016-02-03
    ➕
    ATKINS, David John appointed
    director

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

60/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Rosalind Atkins
Individual · British · DOB 05/1959 · age 67
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting10/02/2023
Mr David John Atkins
Individual · British · DOB 04/1966 · age 60
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Rosalind Atkinsceased 22/07/2019· 75-100% shares

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2016-02-03
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71121 — Engineering design activities for industrial process and production

Registered office

Bury Lodge
Bury Road
Stowmarket
IP14 1JA
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last made up to: 2025-03-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-16
Last: 2026-02-02

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

ATKINS, David John→
director · ~60y · appointed 2016-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (28 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-03
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-12-30
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-10
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-02-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-05-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-10