DAB HANDLING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC294476 · ltd · incorporated 2005-12-14
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45190
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (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: 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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
48 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees600200

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-06-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-04-09
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  5. 2024-04-09
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2024-04-09
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2024-01-05
    HEMPHILL, Arthur Rawlins resigned
    secretary
  8. 2024-01-05
    HEMPHILL, Arthur Rawlins resigned
    director
  9. 2023-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-09-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2010-09-23
    HEMPHILL, Douglas resigned
    director
  18. 2005-12-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DAB HANDLING LIMITED
  19. 2005-12-14
    HEMPHILL, Lee Arthur appointed
    director
  20. 2005-12-14
    HEMPHILL, Arthur Rawlins appointed
    secretary
  21. 2005-12-14
    HEMPHILL, Arthur Rawlins appointed
    director
  22. 2005-12-14
    HEMPHILL, Douglas appointed
    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 20 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 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Lee Arthur Hemphill
Individual · United Kingdom · DOB 05/1970 · age 56
sig. influencesignificant influence01/07/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Arthur Rawlins Hemphillceased 05/01/2024· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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 →

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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
Incorporated2005-12-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45190 — SIC 45190

Registered office

42 Tannoch Drive, West
Lenziemill, Cumbernauld
Lanarkshire
G67 2XX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-23
Last: 2026-04-09

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

HEMPHILL, Lee Arthur
director · ~56y · appointed 2005-12-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HEMPHILL, Arthur Rawlins
secretary · appointed 2005-12-14 · resigned 2024-01-05
Resigned
HEMPHILL, Arthur Rawlins
director · ~80y · appointed 2005-12-14 · resigned 2024-01-05
Resigned
HEMPHILL, Douglas
director · ~82y · appointed 2005-12-14 · resigned 2010-09-23
Resigned

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

Recent filings (48 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-25
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2024-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-09
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-04-09
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-04-09
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-04-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-14