THE RECRUITMENT BUNKER LTD
💤Zombieactive
SC427398 · ltd · incorporated 2012-07-02
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 Apr 2024
Net worth
£-63.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other activities of employment placement agencies
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
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
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
35 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £63,889
Cash YoY
-16%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£463
↓ 16% YoY
Net Worth
-£64k
↑ 70% YoY
Current Assets
£336k
↑ 36867% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-04-30 | 2023-04-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-63.9k | £-211.5k |
| Current assets | £335.7k | £908 |
| Cash | £463 | £551 |
| Debtors | £335.2k | £357 |
| Net assets | £-63.9k | £-211.5k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 officers
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-03📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2026-02-02➖WALKER, James William resigneddirector
- 2025-08-06📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-03-20📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-03-20📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-02-20📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-02-16📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-01-30➕WALKER, James William appointeddirector
- 2023-01-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-09✏️certificate-change-of-name-companychange-of-name · CERTNM
- 2021-10-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-26📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2021-04-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-01-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-11-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2012-07-02🏢Company incorporatedAs THE RECRUITMENT BUNKER LTD
- 2012-07-02➕MCDERMOTT, Darren George appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
58/100
Strong succession signalMultiple 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 14 years.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Darren George Mcdermott Individual · British · DOB 02/1973 · age 53 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 01/07/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Professional services · PH postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHOENIX ACCOUNTANCY & BOOKKEEPING LTD→ SC652533 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| PYTHO LTD→ SC638264 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| SSC INTERNATIONAL LIMITED→ SC873787 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| STIRLING FISHERY MANAGEMENT LTD→ SC798178 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| SWARBRICK LAW LTD→ SC504255 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| SYSTEMS ENGINEERING ABERDEEN LIMITED→ SC505069 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| TBL ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED→ SC234300 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| THE DUNKELD VET LTD→ SC726972 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| THE HERBAL VETS COLLECTIVE LTD→ SC853223 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| THE MUDD PARTNERSHIP LIMITED→ SC346946 · est 2008 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 17y | — | — |
| THE SPEY CLUB LTD→ SC606559 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| THE TOWN PLANNER LTD→ SC591783 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2012-07-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC78109 — Other activities of employment placement agencies
Registered office
Mcdermott House
Tweed Place
Perth
PH1 1TJ
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-07
Last: 2025-07-24
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
MCDERMOTT, Darren George→
Activedirector · ~53y · appointed 2012-07-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WALKER, James William→
Resigneddirector · ~40y · appointed 2023-01-30 · resigned 2026-02-02
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (35 total)
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-06
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-08-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-03
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-03-20
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-02-20
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-15
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2021-11-09