D L D ASSOCIATES LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC186751 · ltd · incorporated 1998-06-15
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 Jun 2024
Net worth
£-267.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 71). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 25.1y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 25.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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
75
Lenders & charges
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 2 with DOB)
76
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
84 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £267,930
Cash YoY
+231%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£96k
↑ 231% YoY
Net Worth
-£268k
↑ 3.6% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
-£278k-£203k-£128k-£54k£21k£96kJun 2023Jun 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-06-302023-06-30
Cash£96.0k£29.0k
Net assets£-267.9k£-278.1k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 signals 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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (35 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2021-09-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-09-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2021-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-06-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2020-06-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2020-02-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-09-19
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  13. 2019-09-19
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  14. 2019-09-19
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  15. 2019-09-19
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  16. 2019-09-19
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  17. 2019-09-19
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  18. 2019-02-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2018-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2012-05-01
    ➕
    DONALD, Daniel Leith appointed
    secretary
  21. 2012-05-01
    ➖
    DONALD, James resigned
    secretary
  22. 2012-05-01
    ➖
    DONALD, Linda resigned
    director
  23. 2007-07-23
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Persimmon Homes Limited
  24. 2006-10-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  25. 2001-05-31
    ➕
    DONALD, James appointed
    secretary
  26. 2001-05-17
    ➖
    ABERDEIN CONSIDINE & CO resigned
    corporate-secretary
  27. 2001-04-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  28. 1998-07-01
    ➕
    DONALD, Daniel Leith appointed
    director
  29. 1998-07-01
    ➕
    ABERDEIN CONSIDINE & CO appointed
    corporate-secretary
  30. 1998-07-01
    ➖
    FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  31. 1998-07-01
    ➕
    DONALD, Linda appointed
    director
  32. 1998-07-01
    ➖
    FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  33. 1998-06-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As D L D ASSOCIATES LTD.
  34. 1998-06-15
    ➕
    FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  35. 1998-06-15
    ➕
    FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-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 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — 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 71 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 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Daniel Leith Donald
Individual · Scottish · DOB 09/1955 · age 71
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated1998-06-15
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

Crombie House
72-90 Crombie Road
Aberdeen
AB11 9QP
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last: 2025-06-16

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

DONALD, Daniel Leith→
secretary · appointed 2012-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DONALD, Daniel Leith→
director · ~71y · appointed 1998-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DONALD, James→
secretary · appointed 2001-05-31 · resigned 2012-05-01
Resigned
ABERDEIN CONSIDINE & CO→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1998-07-01 · resigned 2001-05-17
Resigned
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-06-15 · resigned 1998-07-01
Resigned
DONALD, Linda→
director · ~69y · appointed 1998-07-01 · resigned 2012-05-01
Resigned
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-06-15 · resigned 1998-07-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Persimmon Homes
Persimmon Homes Limited
Standard security1 property23/07/200719/09/2019
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Standard security1 property04/10/200619/09/2019
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property04/04/200119/09/2019

Recent filings (84 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-09-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-09-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-06-16