4D BUILDING SOLUTIONS LTD

💤Zombieactive
13230692 · ltd · incorporated 2021-02-26
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
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Turnover
year to Feb 2025
Net worth
£-4.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other building completion and finishing
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 76/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -80% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
12 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £4,313
Very low cash
Cash position: £47
Cash draining
Cash down 80% YoY
Cash YoY
-80%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£47
↓ 80% YoY
Net Worth
-£4k
↓ 23% YoY
Current Assets
£47
↓ 94% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£4k-£3k-£2k-£1k-£270£741Feb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-02-282024-02-28
Total assets£-4.3k£-3.5k
Current assets£47£741
Cash£47£241
Net assets£-4.3k£-3.5k

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
2
filings
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (9 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-28
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  4. 2024-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-01-30
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2022-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-02-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As 4D BUILDING SOLUTIONS LTD
  8. 2021-02-26
    FORD, Richard appointed
    director
  9. 2021-02-26
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 5 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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 Richard Ford
Individual · British · DOB 01/1965 · age 61
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting26/02/2021

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2021-02-26
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC43390 — Other building completion and finishing

Registered office

The Old Surgery
St Columb
Cornwall
TR9 6AE
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-14
Last: 2026-02-28

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

FORD, Richard
director · ~61y · appointed 2021-02-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (12 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-12
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-27
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-09
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2021-02-26