THE DIFFLEY PARTNERSHIP LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC562642 · ltd · incorporated 2017-04-06
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Market research and public opinion polling
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 71/100 (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 (58/100).

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
34 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees900800

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
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • • 1 officers
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 persons-with-significant-control
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-21
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2026-04-21
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-07-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-01-09
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  6. 2023-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-05-18
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  8. 2023-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-10-26
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2022-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-05-11
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  12. 2021-05-04
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2021-05-04
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  14. 2021-05-04
    📄
    capital-alter-shares-subdivision
    capital · SH02
  15. 2021-04-30
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  16. 2021-04-30
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  17. 2021-02-23
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  18. 2021-02-17
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  19. 2021-02-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  20. 2017-04-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE DIFFLEY PARTNERSHIP LIMITED
  21. 2017-04-06
    ➕
    DIFFLEY, Mark Gary appointed
    director

Owner dependency

95/100
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 "DIFFLEY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

Charlotte Street Partners Limited holds 25-50% — a significant corporate investor but not a controlling parent.

🏛️
Charlotte Street Partners Limited
Corporate parent · holds 25-50% shares
significant stake
⬇
THE DIFFLEY PARTNERSHIP LIMITED
This company · SC562642

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Mark Gary Diffley
Individual · British · DOB 10/1969 · age 57
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2017
Charlotte Street Partners Limited
Corporate entity
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting27/04/2021

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
Incorporated2017-04-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC73200 — Market research and public opinion polling

Registered office

2nd Floor, Prospect House
5 Thistle Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1DF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-18
Last: 2026-04-04

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

DIFFLEY, Mark Gary→
director · ~57y · appointed 2017-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (34 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-21
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-21
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-01-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-18
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2023-05-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-31
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-10-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-31