DONALD ROSS ESTATE AGENTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC290184 · ltd · incorporated 2005-09-12

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.

Why now

Window steady · high confidence

Thesis has shifted recently — watch for confirmation.

· Lifecycle stage: mature → zombie
· Investment thesis: property_refinance → zombie_hold
· Hygiene score: 82 → 77
· Refinance opportunity: clean_up_first → under_pressure

Opportunity decay

drifting distress · 6-months

Drifting toward distress — expect more negotiability in 3–6 months, but also more friction.

· Lifecycle stage drifting downward
· Currently "zombie"

What changed my view

Last 30 days

Picture worsened over the last 30 days — 3 negative signals vs 0 positive.

↓Lifecycle stage: mature → zombie
·Investment thesis: property_refinance → zombie_hold
↓Hygiene score: 82 → 77
↓Refinance opportunity: clean_up_first → under_pressure

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 Oct 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

77/100

Strong

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

What this business does

Primary activity: Real estate agencies

Sector: Real estate

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: property-backed borrower with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 20.7y

30/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 20.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

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

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

64 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

77/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

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	2024-10-31	2023-10-31
Average employees	1000	1200

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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 officers

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 capital
• 2 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand

2026-05-19
➖
STEWART, Fraser William resigned
director
2026-05-19
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-03-31
📄
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2026-03-31
📄
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2026-03-12
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-03-12
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-10
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-07-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-11
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2019-01-31
➖
MILLER, Steven resigned
director
2018-07-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-07-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2017-04-21
➕
STEWART, Fraser William appointed
director
2012-05-17
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2005-10-22
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
2005-10-07
➕
MILLER, Jacqueline appointed
secretary
2005-10-07
➕
MILLER, Jacqueline appointed
director
2005-10-07
➖
DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2005-10-07
➕
MILLER, Steven appointed
director
2005-10-07
➖
DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2005-09-12
🏢
Company incorporated
As DONALD ROSS ESTATE AGENTS LIMITED
2005-09-12
➕
DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2005-09-12
➕
DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

85/100

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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Jacqueline Miller Individual · Scottish · DOB 11/1969 · age 57	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr Steven Millerceased 27/02/2026· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence

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

Similar companies

Active · Property · KA postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
FREEPORT SCOTLAND LIMITED→ SC087372 · est 1984	£2.26M £1.92M–£2.60M	—	£2.26M	—	42y	83	65y
ROBB DONALD & CO. LIMITED→ SC109886 · est 1988	£1.67M £1.42M–£1.92M	—	£1.67M	—	38y	83	76y
DOONBANK INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC089875 · est 1984	£1.61M £1.37M–£1.85M	—	£1.61M	—	41y	83	69y
BUILDWAYS LIMITED→ SC035627 · est 1960	£652.9k £555.0k–£750.9k	—	£652.9k	—	65y	82	72y
DAEDALUS PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC222335 · est 2001	£637.0k £541.5k–£732.6k	—	£637.0k	—	24y	82	67y
DS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC372145 · est 2010	£234.1k £199.0k–£269.2k	—	£234.1k	—	16y	83	61y
AYRSHIRE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LTD.→ SC387933 · est 2010	£203.4k £172.9k–£234.0k	—	£203.4k	—	15y	82	69y
DABART LIMITED→ SC169972 · est 1996	£198.2k £168.5k–£227.9k	—	£198.2k	—	29y	82	79y
MCG PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC297086 · est 2006	£111.8k £95.0k–£128.6k	—	£111.8k	—	20y	83	71y
J G D PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC254693 · est 2003	£97.6k £82.9k–£112.2k	—	£97.6k	—	22y	82	77y
CROSSING PROPERTIES LTD.→ SC170722 · est 1996	£83.5k £71.0k–£96.0k	—	£83.5k	—	29y	82	78y
BRYAN BYRNE CONSULTANTS PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC281879 · est 2005	£79.4k £67.5k–£91.3k	—	£79.4k	—	21y	82	70y

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

Incorporated2005-09-12

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC68310 — Real estate agencies

Registered office

1 Beresford Terrace

Ayr

KA7 2ER

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-26

Last: 2025-09-12

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

MILLER, Jacqueline→

secretary · appointed 2005-10-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MILLER, Jacqueline→

director · ~57y · appointed 2005-10-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-09-12 · resigned 2005-10-07

Resigned

MILLER, Steven→

director · ~54y · appointed 2005-10-07 · resigned 2019-01-31

Resigned

STEWART, Fraser William→

director · ~40y · appointed 2017-04-21 · resigned 2026-05-19

Resigned

DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-09-12 · resigned 2005-10-07

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	Standard security	1 property	17/05/2012	—
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Bond & floating charge	1 property	22/10/2005	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (64 total)

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2026-05-19

capital-cancellation-shares

capital · SH06

2026-03-31

capital-return-purchase-own-shares

capital · SH03

2026-03-31

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-03-12

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2026-03-12

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-09-29