DOCUMENT CONTROL SPECIALISTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC394294 · ltd · incorporated 2011-02-25

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 · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

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 Jan 2026

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

Strong

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

What this business does

Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Sector: Administrative & support services

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: high (82/100)

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

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

42 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

75/100Strong

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

3 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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2026-01-31	2025-02-28	2024-02-29

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 2 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2026-06-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-05-08
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-06-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-07
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-06-15
📄
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-05-07
📄
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-08-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-04
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-04
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-04
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-11-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-06-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2011-02-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As DOCUMENT CONTROL SPECIALISTS LIMITED
2011-02-25
➕
BRUCE, Angela appointed
director
2011-02-25
➕
JAMES AND GEORGE COLLIE appointed
corporate-secretary
2011-02-25
➖
JAMES AND GEORGE COLLIE resigned
corporate-secretary
2011-02-25
➕
MILLER, Innes Richard appointed
director
2011-02-25
➖
MILLER, Innes Richard resigned
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 15 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 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Angela Bruce Individual · British · DOB 03/1979 · age 47	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Trade services · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
UNIQUE SYSTEM (UK) LIMITED→ SC356252 · est 2009	£28.64M £21.48M–£35.80M	£23.27M	—	3800	17y	95	65y
ENPRO SUBSEA LIMITED→ SC398784 · est 2011	£8.95M £6.71M–£11.19M	—	—	34	15y	84	66y
UNITY WELL INTEGRITY UK LIMITED→ SC273906 · est 2004	£5.70M £4.27M–£7.12M	—	—	8200	21y	84	62y
JAMES JAMIESON CONSTRUCTION LIMITED→ SC386496 · est 2010	£2.69M £2.02M–£3.36M	£13.65M	—	3800	15y	84	68y
CASTLETON FRUIT LTD.→ SC369372 · est 2009	£2.18M £1.63M–£2.72M	£15.34M	—	30100	16y	83	52y
MINTRA LTD→ SC362194 · est 2009	£1.21M £909.4k–£1.52M	£11.76M	—	7500	16y	85	62y
ACUMEN FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED→ SC215343 · est 2001	—	—	£1.05M	—	25y	83	74y
ANIRAC LIMITED→ SC280789 · est 2005	—	—	£1.67M	—	21y	83	85y
ASHLEY PROPERTIES ABERDEEN LIMITED→ SC315836 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	83	78y
BUILDTALL LIMITED→ SC235986 · est 2002	—	—	£4.39M	—	23y	83	59y
DRUMMUIR & BOTRIPHNIE COMMUNITY TRUST→ SC273043 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	83	67y
EIJ DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED→ SC226210 · est 2001	—	—	£1.38M	—	24y	83	69y

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

Incorporated2011-02-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

5 Cairntack Road

Belhelvie

Aberdeen

AB23 8RD

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-10-31

Last made up to: 2026-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-27

Last: 2026-02-13

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

BRUCE, Angela→

director · ~47y · appointed 2011-02-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

JAMES AND GEORGE COLLIE→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2011-02-25 · resigned 2011-02-25

Resigned

MILLER, Innes Richard→

director · ~66y · appointed 2011-02-25 · resigned 2011-02-25

Resigned

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

Recent filings (42 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2026-06-09

change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened

accounts · AA01

2026-05-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-02-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-06-10

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-02-18

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-12-16

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2024-11-07

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date

gazette · DISS40

2024-06-15

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-06-14

gazette-notice-compulsory

gazette · GAZ1

2024-05-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-08-02

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-02-13

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-08-11

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2022-07-04

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

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2022-07-04