SXP DESIGNS LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC392629 · ltd · incorporated 2011-02-01
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£7.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 32120
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -75% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (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, 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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
34 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £7,219
Cash draining
Cash down 75% YoY
Cash YoY
-75%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£733
↓ 75% YoY
Net Worth
£7k
↑ 5.5% YoY
Current Assets
£18k
↓ 14% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£4k£8k£13k£17k£21kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£8.2k£12.5k
Current assets£18.2k£21.1k
Cash£733£2.9k
Debtors£4.4k£4.2k
Net assets£7.2k£6.8k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-10-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-03-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2016-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-03-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-03-17
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2012-12-31
    ➖
    MCNEILL, Helen resigned
    director
  17. 2011-02-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SXP DESIGNS LTD.
  18. 2011-02-01
    ➕
    MCLAREN, Lesley appointed
    secretary
  19. 2011-02-01
    ➕
    MCLAREN, Lesley Jane appointed
    director
  20. 2011-02-01
    ➕
    MCNEILL, Helen appointed
    director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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
Mrs Lesley Jane Mclaren
Individual · British · DOB 09/1966 · age 60
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/05/2016

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

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
Incorporated2011-02-01
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC32120 — SIC 32120

Registered office

9 Dalhousie Crescent
Eskbank
Dalkeith
EH22 3DP

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-15
Last: 2026-02-01

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

MCLAREN, Lesley→
secretary · appointed 2011-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCLAREN, Lesley Jane→
director · ~60y · appointed 2011-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCNEILL, Helen→
director · ~61y · appointed 2011-02-01 · resigned 2012-12-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (34 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-02-21