ROBERT F DUFF & CO LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC456668 · ltd · incorporated 2013-08-14
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 2024
Net worth
£148.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Solicitors
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
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: Deleverage or restructure. Leverage at 100% of assets — consider sale of non-core assets or equity injection. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
39 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 £148,557
High leverage
Liabilities are 100% of total assets
Leverage
100%
Liabilities / Total assets

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£149k
Current Assets
£210k
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-08-31
Total assets£237.6k
Current assets£209.8k
Net assets£148.6k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-11
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  2. 2025-04-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-07-24
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2023-06-28
    ➖
    DUFF, Cynthia Jamieson resigned
    director
  7. 2023-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-10-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2021-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-06-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-06-07
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  14. 2019-03-20
    ➕
    HILL, Alan David appointed
    secretary
  15. 2019-03-20
    ➖
    DUFF, Thomas Barclay resigned
    secretary
  16. 2019-03-20
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  17. 2019-03-20
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  18. 2019-02-22
    ➖
    DUFF, Thomas Barclay resigned
    director
  19. 2019-02-22
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  20. 2019-02-14
    ➕
    DUFF, Cynthia Jamieson appointed
    director
  21. 2019-02-14
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  22. 2013-08-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ROBERT F DUFF & CO LTD
  23. 2013-08-14
    ➕
    HILL, Alan David, Councillor appointed
    director
  24. 2013-08-14
    ➕
    DUFF, Thomas Barclay appointed
    secretary
  25. 2013-08-14
    ➕
    DUFF, Thomas Barclay appointed
    director

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

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 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 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Councillor Alan David Hill
Individual · Scottish · DOB 02/1966 · age 60
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Thomas Barclay Duffceased 22/05/2019· 50-75% shares

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

8 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
Incorporated2013-08-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC69102 — Solicitors

Registered office

5 Main Street
Largs
KA30 8AA
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-26
Last: 2026-03-12

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

HILL, Alan David→
secretary · appointed 2019-03-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HILL, Alan David, Councillor→
director · ~60y · appointed 2013-08-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUFF, Thomas Barclay→
secretary · appointed 2013-08-14 · resigned 2019-03-20
Resigned
DUFF, Cynthia Jamieson→
director · ~70y · appointed 2019-02-14 · resigned 2023-06-28
Resigned
DUFF, Thomas Barclay→
director · ~73y · appointed 2013-08-14 · resigned 2019-02-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (39 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-27
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-09-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-07-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-29
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-15