D L J DESIGN LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC278287 · ltd · incorporated 2005-01-12

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jan 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other information technology service activities

Sector: Information & communication

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

63120Web portals

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 83). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (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, 2 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 (3 active, 4 linked, 2 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

47 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	2025-01-31	2024-01-31

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

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2025-11-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-11-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-10-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-10-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-10-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-01-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-10-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-10-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-10-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-10-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-01-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-01-25
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2014-01-25
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2005-01-12
🏢
Company incorporated
As D L J DESIGN LIMITED
2005-01-12
➕
WHEELER, David appointed
secretary
2005-01-12
➕
WHEELER, David appointed
director
2005-01-12
➕
WHEELER, Lucy Jane appointed
director
2005-01-12
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2005-01-12
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

Owner dependency

91/100

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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100

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 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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 Wheeler Individual · British · DOB 01/1943 · age 83	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	01/01/2017

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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2005-01-12

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

Field

Fair Isle

Shetland

ZE2 9JU

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last made up to: 2025-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-26

Last: 2026-01-12

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

WHEELER, David→

secretary · appointed 2005-01-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

WHEELER, David→

director · ~83y · appointed 2005-01-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

WHEELER, Lucy Jane→

director · ~48y · appointed 2005-01-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-01-12 · resigned 2005-01-12

Resigned

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