DAB FABRICATIONS LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC319737 · ltd · incorporated 2007-03-27
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
£678.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -56% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 8.6y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 8.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £678,592
Net assets shrinking
Down £129,993 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 56% YoY
Cash YoY
-56%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£46k
↓ 56% YoY
Net Worth
£679k
↓ 16% YoY
Current Assets
£684k
↓ 14% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£162k£323k£485k£647k£809kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£712.5k£859.5k
Current assets£683.9k£798.8k
Cash£45.7k£104.6k
Debtors£562.2k£484.3k
Net assets£678.6k£808.6k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-02-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-01-29
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  8. 2021-01-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  9. 2019-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-10-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  13. 2017-10-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  14. 2017-09-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2016-11-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-03-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2015-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2013-04-01
    ➖
    BRODIE, Heather Louise resigned
    secretary
  19. 2007-03-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DAB FABRICATIONS LTD.
  20. 2007-03-27
    ➕
    BRODIE, Donald Allan appointed
    director
  21. 2007-03-27
    ➕
    BRODIE, Heather Louise appointed
    secretary
  22. 2007-03-27
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-secretary
  23. 2007-03-27
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-secretary
  24. 2007-03-27
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-director
  25. 2007-03-27
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Donald Allan Brodie
Individual · British · DOB 02/1975 · age 51
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control15/03/2017

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

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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
Incorporated2007-03-27
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC25110 — Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures

Registered office

Block 5, Unit 1 Finlas Street
Cowlairs Industrial Estate
Glasgow
G22 5DT
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-28
Last: 2025-10-14

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

BRODIE, Donald Allan→
director · ~51y · appointed 2007-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRODIE, Heather Louise→
secretary · appointed 2007-03-27 · resigned 2013-04-01
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-03-27 · resigned 2007-03-27
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-director · appointed 2007-03-27 · resigned 2007-03-27
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
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—02/10/201729/01/2021

Recent filings (55 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-02-11
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2021-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-14