DAVID RUSSELL ASSOCIATES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC228489 · ltd · incorporated 2002-02-25

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 Feb 2026

Net worth

£-41.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Specialised design activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 78). 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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

57 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £41,561

Very low cash

Cash position: £40

Cash YoY

+0%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£40

~ YoY

Net Worth

-£42k

↓ 8.3% YoY

Current Assets

£40

~ YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2026-02-28	2025-02-28
Total assets	£40	£40
Current assets	£40	£40
Cash	£40	£40
Debtors	£0	£0
Net assets	£-41.6k	£-38.4k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2026-03-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-11-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-11-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-11-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-10-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-11-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-11-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-11-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2018-11-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-11-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-11-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-11-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-03-12
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-11-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2007-01-01
➕
RUSSELL, David appointed
secretary
2007-01-01
➖
RUSSELL, Fiona Allison resigned
secretary
2006-10-18
➖
RUSSELL, Scott Alexander resigned
director
2002-02-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As DAVID RUSSELL ASSOCIATES LIMITED
2002-02-25
➕
RUSSELL, Fiona Allison appointed
director
2002-02-25
➕
RUSSELL, Fiona Allison appointed
secretary
2002-02-25
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-02-25
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-02-25
➕
RUSSELL, Scott Alexander appointed
director
2002-02-25
➕
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2002-02-25
➖
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "RUSSELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — 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 78 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 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr David Russell Individual · British · DOB 11/1947 · age 79	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	25/02/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES EDINBURGH LIMITED→ SC091725 · est 1985	£131.60M £96.97M–£166.24M	£135.39M	—	135900	41y	85	67y
ROBERTSON EDUCATION (ABERDEENSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC209010 · est 2000	£5.47M £4.03M–£6.91M	—	—	0	25y	85	60y
DSF (2003) LIMITED→ SC144009 · est 1993	£4.70M £3.46M–£5.93M	—	—	7	33y	87	61y
FCC (EAST AYRSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC300470 · est 2006	£3.99M £2.94M–£5.03M	—	—	0	20y	87	60y
BLYTH & BLYTH CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED→ SC241155 · est 2002	£2.78M £2.05M–£3.52M	—	—	93	23y	87	85y
SIBCAS LIMITED→ SC052604 · est 1973	£1.88M £1.39M–£2.38M	—	—	165	53y	88	68y
HORIZON (GP) LIMITED→ SC493523 · est 2014	£45.2k £33.3k–£57.1k	—	—	6	11y	95	66y
BURNDENE INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC015613 · est 1929	£14.3k £10.5k–£18.0k	—	—	0	96y	83	63y
3 ED HOLDINGS 2 LIMITED→ SC328040 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	83	65y
ABACUS FINANCIAL MARKETING LIMITED→ SC197503 · est 1999	—	—	£3.4k	—	26y	83	59y
ACCOUNTING & TAXATION SERVICE LTD→ SC360357 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	83	58y
BRINDLEY ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC290803 · est 2005	—	—	—	1300	20y	83	59y

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2002-02-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74100 — Specialised design activities

Registered office

1 Westhall Gardens

Uphall

West Lothian

EH52 5DL

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-11-30

Last made up to: 2026-02-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-11

Last: 2026-02-25

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

RUSSELL, David→

secretary · appointed 2007-01-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

RUSSELL, Fiona Allison→

director · ~78y · appointed 2002-02-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

RUSSELL, Fiona Allison→

secretary · appointed 2002-02-25 · resigned 2007-01-01

Resigned

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-02-25 · resigned 2002-02-25

Resigned

RUSSELL, Scott Alexander→

director · ~55y · appointed 2002-02-25 · resigned 2006-10-18

Resigned

JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-02-25 · resigned 2002-02-25

Resigned

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