D & M SMITH CONTRACTORS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC449889 · ltd · incorporated 2013-05-13

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 Aug 2025

Net worth

£52.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Construction of other civil engineering projects n.e.c.

Sector: Construction

Investor take

Pursue

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

Opportunity 78/100 (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

28 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

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 · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £52,939

Net assets shrinking

Down £12,478 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£53k

↓ 19% YoY

Current Assets

£79k

↓ 11% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31
Total assets	£251.7k	£121.2k
Current assets	£79.4k	£89.0k
Net assets	£52.9k	£65.4k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2026-03-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-10-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-10-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-13
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-05-19
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-04-18
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2013-05-13
🏢
Company incorporated
As D & M SMITH CONTRACTORS LIMITED
2013-05-13
➕
SMITH, David 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 "SMITH" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
+No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
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
Mr David Smith Individual · British · DOB 03/1963 · age 63	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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

Incorporated2013-05-13

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC42990 — Construction of other civil engineering projects n.e.c.

Registered office

3 Stewart Place

Mosstodloch

Fochabers

Morayshire

IV32 7JF

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-27

Last: 2025-05-13

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

SMITH, David→

director · ~63y · appointed 2013-05-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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