MSD DESIGN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC157423 · ltd · incorporated 1995-04-12
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£1.18M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 26.6y

30/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 26.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
10 officers (2 active, 10 linked, 6 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
101 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,179,742
Cash YoY
+610%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£69k
↑ 610% YoY
Net Worth
£1.2m
↑ 82% YoY
Current Assets
£1.9m
↑ 34% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£389k£778k£1.2m£1.6m£1.9mApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£1.21M£691.8k
Current assets£1.95M£1.45M
Cash£69.4k£9.8k
Debtors£1.84M£1.37M
Net assets£1.18M£646.4k

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 mortgage
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (37 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-15
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  3. 2025-12-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Funding Circle LTD
  4. 2025-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-08-30
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2023-06-30
    ➖
    TARLING, Martin Andrew resigned
    director
  8. 2023-03-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-06-08
    📄
    change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH04
  10. 2022-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-11-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2020-11-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2020-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-10-17
    📄
    change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH04
  17. 2018-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2016-03-01
    ➕
    TARLING, Martin Andrew appointed
    director
  20. 2014-04-08
    ➖
    MUIR, John resigned
    director
  21. 2006-07-17
    ➕
    SHEPHERD & WEDDERBURN SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2006-07-17
    ➖
    GEE, Gavin David resigned
    secretary
  23. 2006-07-17
    ➖
    GEE, Shona Louise resigned
    director
  24. 2005-05-01
    ➕
    MUIR, John appointed
    director
  25. 2001-09-25
    ➖
    EDMOND, Gordon resigned
    director
  26. 1999-10-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  27. 1998-11-10
    ➕
    GEE, Gavin David appointed
    secretary
  28. 1998-11-10
    ➖
    JAMES AND GEORGE COLLIE resigned
    corporate-secretary
  29. 1998-01-31
    ➖
    RENNIE, Graham resigned
    director
  30. 1997-11-01
    ➕
    EDMOND, Gordon appointed
    director
  31. 1997-11-01
    ➕
    RENNIE, Graham appointed
    director
  32. 1997-05-01
    ➕
    GEE, Shona Louise appointed
    director
  33. 1995-04-20
    ➕
    STEVENSON, Martin William appointed
    director
  34. 1995-04-20
    ➖
    BONSQUARE NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  35. 1995-04-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MSD DESIGN LIMITED
  36. 1995-04-12
    ➕
    JAMES AND GEORGE COLLIE appointed
    corporate-secretary
  37. 1995-04-12
    ➕
    BONSQUARE NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-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 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — 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 72 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 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 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.)

Group structure

Msd Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Msd Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
MSD DESIGN LIMITED
This company · SC157423

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Msd Holdings Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting12/04/2017

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

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
Incorporated1995-04-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

Unit 1, Logman Centre
Greenbank Crescent
East Tullos
Aberdeen
AB12 3BG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-03
Last: 2025-05-20

Officers (2 active · 8 resigned)

SHEPHERD & WEDDERBURN SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-07-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STEVENSON, Martin William→
director · ~72y · appointed 1995-04-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GEE, Gavin David→
secretary · appointed 1998-11-10 · resigned 2006-07-17
Resigned
JAMES AND GEORGE COLLIE→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1995-04-12 · resigned 1998-11-10
Resigned
EDMOND, Gordon→
director · ~74y · appointed 1997-11-01 · resigned 2001-09-25
Resigned
GEE, Shona Louise→
director · ~60y · appointed 1997-05-01 · resigned 2006-07-17
Resigned
MUIR, John→
director · ~78y · appointed 2005-05-01 · resigned 2014-04-08
Resigned
RENNIE, Graham→
director · ~64y · appointed 1997-11-01 · resigned 1998-01-31
Resigned
TARLING, Martin Andrew→
director · ~47y · appointed 2016-03-01 · resigned 2023-06-30
Resigned
BONSQUARE NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 1995-04-12 · resigned 1995-04-20
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Funding Circle
Funding Circle LTD
A registered charge1 property11/12/2025—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property19/10/1999—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (101 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-25
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-27
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-14
change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH04
2022-06-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-21
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-11-13