R.D. DESIGNS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC110434 · ltd · incorporated 1988-04-13
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
£55.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 76). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -46% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
93 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £55,139
Net assets shrinking
Down £42,546 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 46% YoY
Cash YoY
-46%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£44k
↓ 46% YoY
Net Worth
£55k
↓ 44% YoY
Current Assets
£62k
↓ 48% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£24k£48k£73k£97k£121kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£55.1k£97.7k
Current assets£62.3k£120.9k
Cash£43.9k£81.8k
Debtors£18.4k£39.1k
Net assets£55.1k£97.7k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-05-02
    📄
    capital-name-of-class-of-shares
    capital · SH08
  5. 2023-05-02
    📄
    capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
    capital · SH10
  6. 2022-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-05-03
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  9. 2021-05-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2020-11-04
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2020-11-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-04-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2018-04-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  16. 2017-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 1992-06-10
    ➖
    TEMPLETON, John Kinniburgh resigned
    director
  18. 1992-06-10
    ➖
    TEMPLETON, John Kinniburgh resigned
    director
  19. 1992-04-30
    ➖
    DUFF, Linda May resigned
    director
  20. 1988-04-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As R.D. DESIGNS LIMITED
  21. 1988-04-13
    ➕
    DUFF, Linda May appointed
    secretary
  22. 1988-04-13
    ➕
    DUFF, Raymond Holmes appointed
    director
  23. 1988-04-13
    ➕
    HUGHES, Keith John appointed
    secretary
  24. 1988-04-13
    ➖
    HUGHES, Keith John resigned
    secretary
  25. 1988-04-13
    ➕
    DUFF, Linda May appointed
    director
  26. 1988-04-01
    ➕
    TEMPLETON, John Kinniburgh appointed
    director

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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 38 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 76 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 38 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 38 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Raymond Holmes Duff
Individual · British · DOB 06/1950 · age 76
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Linda May Duff
Individual · British · DOB 03/1955 · age 71
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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————24y8286y
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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
Incorporated1988-04-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

8 Miller Road
Ayr
Ayrshire
KA7 2AY
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-14
Last: 2026-04-30

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

DUFF, Linda May→
secretary · appointed 1988-04-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUFF, Raymond Holmes→
director · ~76y · appointed 1988-04-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUGHES, Keith John→
secretary · appointed 1988-04-13 · resigned 1988-04-13
Resigned
DUFF, Linda May→
director · appointed 1988-04-13 · resigned 1992-04-30
Resigned
TEMPLETON, John Kinniburgh→
director · ~100y · appointed 1988-04-01 · resigned 1992-06-10
Resigned
TEMPLETON, John Kinniburgh→
director · ~100y · resigned 1992-06-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (93 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-03
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2023-05-02
capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
capital · SH10
2023-05-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-03
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2021-05-03
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-05-03