DORWARD ASSOCIATES LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC505852 · ltd · incorporated 2015-05-14

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 May 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 72). 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 (79/100)

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

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

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.

Key financials

2 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	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Average employees	200	200

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 (20 events)Click to expand

2026-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-15
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-05-15
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-05-15
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-02-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-27
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-15
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2015-10-15
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2015-07-26
➖
DORWARD, Gail Elizabeth resigned
director
2015-05-14
🏢
Company incorporated
As DORWARD ASSOCIATES LTD
2015-05-14
➕
DORWARD, David Keay appointed
director
2015-05-14
➕
DORWARD, Gail Elizabeth 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 "DORWARD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
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 Keay Dorward Individual · British · DOB 05/1954 · age 72	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.

🔒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 · DD postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
D P & L HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC482382 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
DAVIE PLANT LIMITED→ SC644151 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
DELTA P SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC484827 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
DJ MARTIN (AT) LIMITED→ SC474745 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
DM STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING LTD→ SC613999 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
DQZ SERVICES LTD→ SC692892 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
DSB DESIGN LTD→ SC505021 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
DUNCAN PATTIE LIMITED→ SC358885 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
DUNDEE PROMOTIONS LIMITED→ SC827727 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
DUNELLA LTD→ SC838242 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
E.M.S. EUROWELD LIMITED→ SC094303 · est 1985 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	40y	—	—
ECHO INITIATIVES LIMITED→ SC436134 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	—	—

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

Incorporated2015-05-14

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

48 Torridon Road

Broughty Ferry

Dundee

DD5 3JH

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-28

Last: 2025-05-14

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

DORWARD, David Keay→

director · ~72y · appointed 2015-05-14

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DORWARD, Gail Elizabeth→

director · ~69y · appointed 2015-05-14 · resigned 2015-07-26

Resigned

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

Recent filings (28 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-02-25

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-05-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-01-24

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-05-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-02-27

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-05-22

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-03-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-05-18

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-02-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-05-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-05-14

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-05-15

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

officers · CH01

2020-05-15

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

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2020-05-15

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

address · AD01

2020-05-15