GLOBAL DESIGN & SOURCE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC313191 · ltd · incorporated 2006-12-07
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.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 18.2y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 18.2y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 18.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
59 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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
—
£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 employees—900

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 mortgage
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 mortgage
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-09
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  2. 2026-02-09
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  3. 2025-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-12-08
    📄
    legacy
    miscellaneous · RP04CS01
  13. 2017-04-25
    📄
    second-filing-of-director-appointment-with-name
    document-replacement · RP04AP01
  14. 2016-06-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-12-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2014-05-16
    ➖
    RUTHERFORD, Fraser resigned
    secretary
  18. 2012-03-27
    ➕
    GILHOOLY, Giles appointed
    director
  19. 2008-03-06
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
  20. 2006-12-29
    ➕
    GILHOOLY, Barbara appointed
    director
  21. 2006-12-29
    ➕
    RUTHERFORD, Fraser appointed
    secretary
  22. 2006-12-08
    ➖
    HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2006-12-08
    ➖
    HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2006-12-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As GLOBAL DESIGN & SOURCE LIMITED
  25. 2006-12-07
    ➕
    HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2006-12-07
    ➕
    HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

84/100
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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

69/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Giles Gilhooly
Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Barbara Gilhooly
Individual · British · DOB 08/1977 · age 49
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting07/12/2016

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 →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated2006-12-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47990 — Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Registered office

10 Castle Street
Edinburgh
EH2 3AT

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-21
Last: 2025-12-07

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

GILHOOLY, Barbara→
director · ~49y · appointed 2006-12-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GILHOOLY, Giles→
director · ~60y · appointed 2012-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RUTHERFORD, Fraser→
secretary · appointed 2006-12-29 · resigned 2014-05-16
Resigned
HCS SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-12-07 · resigned 2006-12-08
Resigned
HANOVER DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-12-07 · resigned 2006-12-08
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
Floating charge1 property06/03/200809/02/2026

Recent filings (59 total)

mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2026-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-13