TRAFFIC DESIGN CONSULTANTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC210509 · ltd · incorporated 2000-08-31
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£-7.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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
8 officers (2 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
74 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
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
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £7,247

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£7k
Current Assets
£14k
Current Liabilities
—
-£7k-£3k£1k£6k£10k£14kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£-685—
Current assets£14.3k—
Net assets£-7.2k—

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

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 (31 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2024-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-09-05
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2024-09-05
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2024-09-05
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  7. 2023-08-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-07-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2018-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-09-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2017-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-03-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  17. 2017-02-27
    ➖
    SMITH, Christopher resigned
    director
  18. 2010-01-04
    ➕
    SMITH, Christopher appointed
    director
  19. 2003-09-05
    ➕
    KILPATRICK, Lorna appointed
    secretary
  20. 2003-09-05
    ➖
    CROWN, Kenneth Robert resigned
    secretary
  21. 2003-05-14
    ➖
    THORNTON, David resigned
    director
  22. 2002-03-20
    ➕
    WITHAM, Scott David appointed
    director
  23. 2002-03-20
    ➖
    CROWN, Kenneth Robert resigned
    director
  24. 2002-03-20
    ➖
    LEASK, Elspeth resigned
    director
  25. 2002-03-20
    ➕
    THORNTON, David appointed
    director
  26. 2000-08-31
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As TRAFFIC DESIGN CONSULTANTS LIMITED
  27. 2000-08-31
    ➕
    CROWN, Kenneth Robert appointed
    secretary
  28. 2000-08-31
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  29. 2000-08-31
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  30. 2000-08-31
    ➕
    CROWN, Kenneth Robert appointed
    director
  31. 2000-08-31
    ➕
    LEASK, Elspeth appointed
    director

Owner dependency

85/100
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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Scott David Witham
Individual · British · DOB 05/1970 · age 56
75–100%
—75-100% 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

7 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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2000-08-31
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Alexander Stephen House
91 Holmfauld Road
Glasgow
G51 4RY

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-21
Last: 2025-08-07

Officers (2 active · 6 resigned)

KILPATRICK, Lorna→
secretary · appointed 2003-09-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WITHAM, Scott David→
director · ~56y · appointed 2002-03-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CROWN, Kenneth Robert→
secretary · appointed 2000-08-31 · resigned 2003-09-05
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-08-31 · resigned 2000-08-31
Resigned
CROWN, Kenneth Robert→
director · ~58y · appointed 2000-08-31 · resigned 2002-03-20
Resigned
LEASK, Elspeth→
director · ~60y · appointed 2000-08-31 · resigned 2002-03-20
Resigned
SMITH, Christopher→
director · ~47y · appointed 2010-01-04 · resigned 2017-02-27
Resigned
THORNTON, David→
director · ~71y · appointed 2002-03-20 · resigned 2003-05-14
Resigned

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

Recent filings (74 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-03
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-09-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-09-05
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2024-09-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-07