SOFTWARE FOUNDATION LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC119270 · ltd · incorporated 1989-08-01
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other information technology service activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 72). 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 (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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
82 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

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees200100

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-12-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-11-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company
    officers · CH01
  12. 2016-11-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2016-04-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-10-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-03-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 1998-09-01
    DUNCAN, Jean resigned
    director
  17. 1989-08-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SOFTWARE FOUNDATION LIMITED

Owner dependency

90/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 72 — 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 72 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 37 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Jean Henderson Duncan
Individual · British · DOB 10/1955 · age 71
2550%
25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mr Brian Barber Duncan
Individual · British · DOB 05/1954 · age 72
2550%
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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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
Incorporated1989-08-01
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

2 Spruce Grove
Dunfermline Fife
KY11 5AE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-02
Last: 2025-09-18

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

DUNCAN, Jean
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUNCAN, Brian
director · ~72y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUNCAN, Jean
director · ~71y · resigned 1998-09-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (82 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-11-26