DWS ASSOCIATES LIMITED

🏛️Establishedactive
SC631474 · ltd · incorporated 2019-05-24
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Stable recent picture — watch for any upcoming trigger event.
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
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
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
18 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
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 · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees600—

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (16 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-15
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  2. 2025-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-23
    📄
    statement-of-companys-objects
    change-of-constitution · CC04
  4. 2024-09-23
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  5. 2024-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-07-11
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2023-07-10
    ➕
    GLEDHILL, Susan Pauline appointed
    director
  8. 2023-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-03-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-06-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-06-01
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2019-05-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DWS ASSOCIATES LIMITED
  14. 2019-05-24
    ➕
    SMART, Anne appointed
    director
  15. 2019-05-24
    ➕
    SMART, David appointed
    director
  16. 2019-05-24
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

73/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

60/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.

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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Smart
Individual · British · DOB 04/1963 · age 63
25–50%
—25-50% shares24/05/2019

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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SC172338 · est 1997 · no financials extracted
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RSVP DESIGN LIMITED→
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———023y8276y
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
Incorporated2019-05-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

21 Argyll Square
Oban
Oban
Argyll And Bute
PA34 4AT
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-06
Last: 2025-05-23

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

GLEDHILL, Susan Pauline→
director · ~73y · appointed 2023-07-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMART, Anne→
director · ~64y · appointed 2019-05-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMART, David→
director · ~63y · appointed 2019-05-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (18 total)

memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2025-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-27
statement-of-companys-objects
change-of-constitution · CC04
2024-09-23
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-05
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-07-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-15