W DAVIDSON & SON LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC099081 · ltd · incorporated 1986-05-15

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 Jul 2025

Net worth

£100

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Non-trading company

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Dormant / non-trading with a 79-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 79). 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: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

88 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Positive net assets

Net assets £100

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£100

~ YoY

Current Assets

£100

~ YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Total assets	£100	£100
Current assets	£100	£100
Debtors	£100	£100
Net assets	£100	£100

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2026-05-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-09-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-03-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-05-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-02-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-01-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-05-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2017-12-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2017-01-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-02-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-01-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
1989-07-12
➕
BERNTOP LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
1989-07-12
➖
DAVIDSON, Mary Paton resigned
secretary
1986-05-15
🏢
Company incorporated
As W DAVIDSON & SON LIMITED

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 "DAVIDSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 40 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr William Mellville Davidson Individual · British · DOB 05/1947 · age 79	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Holding company · ML postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
SMITHS HOTEL LTD→ SC249368 · est 2003	£1.35M £1.15M–£1.55M	—	£1.35M	—	22y	83	59y
LINEAR UK GROUP LIMITED→ SC607571 · est 2018	—	—	—	—	7y	84	59y
BARRATT TRADE AND PROPERTY COMPANY LIMITED→ SC009489 · est 1915 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	110y	82	60y
DONALD MCLAREN HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC240577 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	82	88y
E.G. STEELE HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC389896 · est 2010	—	—	—	0	15y	82	71y
FIREDRIVER DIESEL ENGINES LIMITED→ SC099844 · est 1986	—	—	—	—	39y	82	80y
GLASGOW TRUST, LIMITED→ SC019189 · est 1936 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	89y	82	60y
SCOTHOMES LIMITED→ SC043207 · est 1966 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	60y	82	60y
ANGUS DUNDEE (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC122666 · est 1990	—	—	—	—	36y	81	94y
EAST KILBRIDE PRIVATE HIRE LIMITED→ SC345478 · est 2008	—	—	—	—	17y	81	68y
JUST IN TIME GROUP LIMITED→ SC330154 · est 2007	—	—	—	0	18y	81	84y
ALBION WINES & SPIRITS (GLASGOW, SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC145347 · est 1993	—	—	—	—	32y	80	93y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated1986-05-15

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

3 Gray Street

Shotts

Lanarkshire

ML7 5EZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-30

Last: 2025-12-16

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

BERNTOP LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1989-07-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DAVIDSON, William Mellville→

director · ~79y

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DAVIDSON, Mary Paton→

secretary · resigned 1989-07-12

Resigned

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

Recent filings (88 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2026-05-11

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-01-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2024-12-16

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-12-16

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-01-03

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2023-09-18

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2023-03-27

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-01-23

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2022-05-17

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-01-13

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-02-18

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2021-02-18

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-01-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2020-01-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2019-05-10