ARKIPLAN LTD.

💤Zombieactive

SC257255 · ltd · incorporated 2003-10-08

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 Oct 2024

Net worth

£-8.1k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Architectural 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 (70/100, director aged 61). 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 (68/100)

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

1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

51 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 £8,110

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£452

Net Worth

-£8k

Current Assets

£4k

Current Liabilities

—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2024-10-31
Total assets	£3.3k
Current assets	£3.9k
Cash	£452
Debtors	£3.5k
Net assets	£-8.1k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2025-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-07-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-06-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-07-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-10-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-07-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2003-10-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARKIPLAN LTD.
2003-10-08
➕
ELDER, Fiona Marie appointed
secretary
2003-10-08
➕
ELDER, Sean Gordon appointed
director
2003-10-08
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-10-08
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-10-08
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-10-08
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — 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 61. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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
Mr Sean Gordon Elder Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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 →

🔒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

Incorporated2003-10-08

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

28 Grahamsdyke Place

Boness

West Lothian

EH51 9QZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-05

Last: 2025-10-22

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

ELDER, Fiona Marie→

secretary · appointed 2003-10-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ELDER, Sean Gordon→

director · ~61y · appointed 2003-10-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-10-08 · resigned 2003-10-08

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-10-08 · resigned 2003-10-08

Resigned

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