RINGFORD MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC273731 · ltd · incorporated 2004-09-23

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 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 28290

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

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 (78/100)

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

3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

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.

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 · FRS 102

Metric	2025-12-31	2024-12-31
Average employees	0	0

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2026-04-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-04
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-10-04
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-08-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-09-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-06-01
➖
MARRIOTT, Vivien resigned
secretary
2004-09-23
🏢
Company incorporated
As RINGFORD MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED
2004-09-23
➕
BARBOUR, Alexander James appointed
director
2004-09-23
➕
MARRIOTT, Vivien appointed
secretary
2004-09-23
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-09-23
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

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 22 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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 Alexander James Barbour Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	01/07/2016

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 · Manufacturing · DG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
EWART ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC049122 · est 1971	£1.94M £1.51M–£2.37M	£8.54M	—	7900	54y	87	62y
COCHRAN SERVICES LTD→ SC379462 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	83	70y
H & I ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC053292 · est 1973	—	—	—	2900	52y	83	81y
HODDAM CONTRACTING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC033012 · est 1958	—	—	—	48	68y	83	60y
JAMES GORDON LIMITED→ SC293893 · est 2005	—	—	£7.20M	—	20y	83	76y
A & G KING TIMBER LIMITED→ SC198132 · est 1999	—	—	£7.80M	—	26y	82	84y
CASTLE TECHNOLOGIES (STRANRAER) LIMITED→ SC377099 · est 2010	—	—	—	12	16y	82	58y
DAVID REID LIMITED→ SC292994 · est 2005	—	—	£11.1k	—	20y	82	67y
ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED→ SC059934 · est 1976	—	—	—	25	49y	82	58y
EUROPEAN FOREST MACHINERY LIMITED→ SC206862 · est 2000	—	—	—	0	25y	82	68y
JAMES KINGAN AND SONS LIMITED→ SC024140 · est 1946	—	—	£3.88M	—	79y	82	66y
SABLEY LTD→ SC486343 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—

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

Incorporated2004-09-23

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC28290 — SIC 28290

Registered office

26 High Street

Annan

DG12 6AJ

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-09-30

Last made up to: 2025-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-07

Last: 2025-09-23

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

BARBOUR, Alexander James→

director · ~61y · appointed 2004-09-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MARRIOTT, Vivien→

secretary · appointed 2004-09-23 · resigned 2012-06-01

Resigned

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-09-23 · resigned 2004-09-23

Resigned

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

Recent filings (51 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2026-04-22

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-10-13

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2025-09-30

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-10-09

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-01-30

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-09-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-08-30

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-09-23

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-09-02

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-10-15

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2021-10-04

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2021-10-04

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-08-31

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2020-10-14

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-09-23