DUFFY INVESTMENTS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC657998 · ltd · incorporated 2020-03-23
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
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Turnover
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£370.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
68/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Fund management activities
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed financial-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 68/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -49% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
15 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
68/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
55
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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 £369,975
Cash draining
Cash down 49% YoY
Cash YoY
-49%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£46k
↓ 49% YoY
Net Worth
£370k
↑ 17% YoY
Current Assets
£46k
↓ 49% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£74k£148k£222k£296k£370kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£441.4k£378.1k
Current assets£45.9k£90.8k
Cash£45.8k£90.7k
Debtors£100£100
Net assets£370.0k£315.9k

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (12 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2022-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-03-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-05-19
    📄
    memorandum-articles
    incorporation · MA
  8. 2020-05-19
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  9. 2020-03-27
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  10. 2020-03-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DUFFY INVESTMENTS LTD
  11. 2020-03-23
    DUFFY, James appointed
    director
  12. 2020-03-23
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 "DUFFY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-05

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Duffy
Individual · British · DOB 09/1958 · age 68
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting23/03/2020
Mrs Catherine Ann Duffy
Individual · British · DOB 12/1957 · age 69
2550%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting23/03/2020

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

9 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
Incorporated2020-03-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC66300 — Fund management activities

Registered office

C/O Robb Ferguson Chartered Accountants Regent Court
70 West Regent Street
Glasgow
G2 2QZ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-05OVERDUE
Last: 2025-03-22

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

DUFFY, James
director · ~68y · appointed 2020-03-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (15 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-24
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-02
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2020-05-19
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2020-05-19
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2020-03-27
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-03-23