GRAY ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC416060 · ltd · incorporated 2012-02-02

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 Feb 2025

Net worth

£1.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

74/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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 (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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

36 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

74/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £1,300

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£1k

↑ 924% YoY

Current Assets

£2k

↑ 155% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-02-28	2024-02-29
Total assets	£2.1k	£871
Current assets	£2.0k	£791
Net assets	£1.3k	£127

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand

2025-11-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-21
✏️
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-06-18
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-05-25
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-04-03
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2017-11-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-11-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-08
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-02-02
🏢
Company incorporated
As GRAY ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATES LIMITED
2012-02-02
➕
GRAY, Steven Douglas appointed
director

Owner dependency

100/100

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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "GRAY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
+No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. 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 14 years.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 med · 1 low

Name changed recently

medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-07-21: certificate-change-of-name-company

Multiple registered office changes

low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Steven Douglas Gray Individual · British · DOB 05/1965 · age 61	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	30/06/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · EH postcode area

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CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES EDINBURGH LIMITED→ SC091725 · est 1985	£131.60M £96.97M–£166.24M	£135.39M	—	135900	41y	85	67y
ROBERTSON EDUCATION (ABERDEENSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC209010 · est 2000	£5.47M £4.03M–£6.91M	—	—	0	25y	85	60y
DSF (2003) LIMITED→ SC144009 · est 1993	£4.70M £3.46M–£5.93M	—	—	7	33y	87	61y
FCC (EAST AYRSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC300470 · est 2006	£3.99M £2.94M–£5.03M	—	—	0	20y	87	60y
BLYTH & BLYTH CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED→ SC241155 · est 2002	£2.78M £2.05M–£3.52M	—	—	93	23y	87	85y
SIBCAS LIMITED→ SC052604 · est 1973	£1.88M £1.39M–£2.38M	—	—	165	53y	88	68y
HORIZON (GP) LIMITED→ SC493523 · est 2014	£45.2k £33.3k–£57.1k	—	—	6	11y	95	66y
BURNDENE INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC015613 · est 1929	£14.3k £10.5k–£18.0k	—	—	0	96y	83	63y
3 ED HOLDINGS 2 LIMITED→ SC328040 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	83	65y
ABACUS FINANCIAL MARKETING LIMITED→ SC197503 · est 1999	—	—	£3.4k	—	26y	83	59y
ACCOUNTING & TAXATION SERVICE LTD→ SC360357 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	83	58y
BRINDLEY ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC290803 · est 2005	—	—	—	1300	20y	83	59y

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2012-02-02

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

88 Buckstone Terrace

Edinburgh

Scotland

EH10 6QR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-11-30

Last made up to: 2025-02-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-14

Last: 2026-03-31

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

GRAY, Steven Douglas→

director · ~61y · appointed 2012-02-02

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (36 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-03-31

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-11-10

certificate-change-of-name-company

change-of-name · CERTNM

2025-07-21

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

address · AD01

2025-06-18

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

address · AD01

2025-05-25

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-04-26

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-11-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-05-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-11-21

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-05-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-11-23

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-05-03

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-11-22

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-04-26

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2020-11-24