DOUGAN ADLER LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC606069 · ltd · incorporated 2018-08-22

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Aug 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

71/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Leasing of intellectual property and similar products, except copyright works

Sector: Administrative & support services

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

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

5 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

20 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

71/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Adequate — check latest filings for context.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

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 · FRS 102

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31
Total assets	—	£20.4k
Current assets	—	£19.4k
Cash	—	£340
Debtors	—	£19.1k
Net assets	—	£20.4k
Average employees	0	—

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (16 events)Click to expand

2026-03-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-04
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-03
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-03
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-04-03
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-04-03
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-02-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-08-22
🏢
Company incorporated
As DOUGAN ADLER LTD
2018-08-22
➕
LEIGHTON, Danielle appointed
secretary
2018-08-22
➕
LEIGHTON, Samuel Paul, Dr. appointed
director
2018-08-22
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

80/100

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.
+No director turnover: Company is 8 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Dr. Samuel Paul Leighton Individual · British · DOB 09/1987 · age 39	50–75%	50–75%	board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control	22/08/2018
Mrs Danielle Leighton Individual · British · DOB 11/1987 · age 39	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	22/08/2018

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 · G postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
MOULSDALE INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC491741 · est 2014	£117.51M £86.58M–£148.43M	—	—	118100	11y	83	72y
MCGHEE GROUP LIMITED→ SC362390 · est 2009	£20.62M £15.19M–£26.04M	—	—	—	16y	87	67y
I3WORKS LTD→ SC477423 · est 2014	£16.71M £12.31M–£21.11M	£38.15M	—	14200	12y	92	61y
DOUGALL HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC182259 · est 1998	£15.47M £11.40M–£19.54M	—	—	540	28y	85	84y
24/26 HOLDINGS LTD→ SC470528 · est 2014	£4.81M £3.54M–£6.07M	—	—	26	12y	85	67y
INTERLOCK INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC057982 · est 1975	£3.26M £2.40M–£4.11M	—	—	20	51y	85	72y
SKYVISION INTERNATIONAL LIMITED→ SC153156 · est 1994	£837.2k £616.9k–£1.06M	£680.4k	—	100	31y	88	65y
ACCU-TECH SYSTEMS LIMITED→ SC223891 · est 2001	£22.3k £16.4k–£28.2k	£413.2k	—	300	24y	85	58y
'A' FLIGHT AVIATION LIMITED→ SC157855 · est 1995	—	—	£6.9k	—	31y	83	72y
AKELA PLANT HIRE LTD→ SC313584 · est 2006	—	—	£1.74M	—	19y	83	58y
ANDERSON KNIGHT LIMITED→ SC214850 · est 2001	—	—	—	2300	25y	83	63y
ASSISTING SUCCESS LIMITED→ SC294900 · est 2005	—	—	£29.2k	—	20y	83	62y

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

Incorporated2018-08-22

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC77400 — Leasing of intellectual property and similar products, except copyright works

Registered office

24 Churchill Drive

Glasgow

G11 7LS

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-04

Last: 2025-08-21

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

LEIGHTON, Danielle→

secretary · appointed 2018-08-22

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

LEIGHTON, Samuel Paul, Dr.→

director · ~39y · appointed 2018-08-22

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (20 total)

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

accounts · AA

2026-03-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-09-12

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

address · AD01

2025-06-04

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

accounts · AA

2025-05-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-08-21

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

accounts · AA

2024-05-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-08-28

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

officers · CH01

2023-04-03

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

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2023-04-03

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

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2023-04-03

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

address · AD01

2023-04-03

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

accounts · AA

2023-02-16

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-08-22

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

accounts · AA

2022-04-18

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-08-23