RED HOT IRONS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC225660 · ltd · incorporated 2001-11-23

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

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Combined office administrative service activities

Sector: Administrative & support services

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

82190Photocopying, document preparation and other specialised office support activities
82301Activities of exhibition and fair organisers
82302Activities of conference organisers

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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 (77/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 4 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

56 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Average employees	900	800

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-07-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-12
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-10-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-12-05
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2007-12-31
➖
CRAWFORD, William Edward resigned
secretary
2001-12-16
➕
BRYANT, Patricia Mary appointed
director
2001-12-16
➕
CRAWFORD, William Edward appointed
secretary
2001-12-16
➖
YORK PLACE COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2001-12-16
➖
YORK PLACE COMPANY NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
corporate-director
2001-11-23
🏢
Company incorporated
As RED HOT IRONS LIMITED
2001-11-23
➕
YORK PLACE COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2001-11-23
➕
YORK PLACE COMPANY NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
corporate-director

Owner dependency

93/100

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.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
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 24 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Ms Patricia Mary Bryant Individual · British · DOB 01/1964 · age 62	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Trade services · DG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
HARDIE HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC222639 · est 2001	£2.62M £1.96M–£3.27M	—	—	2	24y	82	66y
D R W LTD.→ SC278769 · est 2005	—	—	£91.7k	—	21y	83	71y
STRANRAER MILLENNIUM CENTRE COMMUNITY TRUST→ SC189780 · est 1998	—	—	—	700	27y	83	80y
BURNFOOT FARMS→ SC387583 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	82	74y
CHARLES PAISLEY & SONS LIMITED→ SC273942 · est 2004	—	—	£422.9k	—	21y	82	63y
LESLEY GREENLEES LIMITED→ SC386519 · est 2010	—	—	£244.9k	—	15y	82	83y
ROUCAN LOCH CREMATORIUM COMPANY LIMITED→ SC252072 · est 2003	—	—	—	900	22y	82	65y
ALARM SYSTEMS LIMITED→ SC168495 · est 1996	—	—	£1.05M	—	29y	81	79y
THOMSON RODDICK CALLAN LIMITED→ SC736177 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
THOMSON, RODDICK & LAURIE LIMITED→ SC028073 · est 1950 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	75y	—	—
THORBURN FUNERAL DIRECTORS LTD→ SC723680 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
TOWN DYNAMICS LIMITED→ SC254788 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	—	—

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 →

🔒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

Incorporated2001-11-23

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC82110 — Combined office administrative service activities

Registered office

Smithy House

Waterbeck

Lockerbie

Dumfriesshire

DG11 3EY

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-05

Last: 2025-10-22

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

BRYANT, Patricia Mary→

director · ~62y · appointed 2001-12-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CRAWFORD, William Edward→

secretary · appointed 2001-12-16 · resigned 2007-12-31

Resigned

YORK PLACE COMPANY SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2001-11-23 · resigned 2001-12-16

Resigned

YORK PLACE COMPANY NOMINEES LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 2001-11-23 · resigned 2001-12-16

Resigned

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