LOTHIAN COACHES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC127507 · ltd · incorporated 1990-09-25

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 Dec 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

74/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 49390

Sector: Transportation & storage

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (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: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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

13 officers (1 active, 13 linked, 10 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

98 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

74/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

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	2024-12-31	2023-12-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (42 events)Click to expand

2025-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-09-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-09-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-09-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-08-26
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-08-26
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-08-12
➕
BOYD, Sarah Jean appointed
director
2022-08-12
➖
SERAFINI, Nigel Murray resigned
director
2021-09-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-01-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-04-02
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-03-31
➖
HALL, Richard John resigned
director
2019-09-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-02-14
➕
SERAFINI, Nigel Murray appointed
director
2019-02-14
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2018-07-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-11-28
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2017-09-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-08-30
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2017-02-06
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2017-01-31
➖
STRACHAN, Norman James resigned
secretary
2016-11-25
➖
STRACHAN, Norman James resigned
director
2016-05-01
➕
HALL, Richard John appointed
director
2016-01-31
➖
CRAIG, William Ian Gold resigned
director
2008-11-10
➕
CRAIG, William Ian Gold appointed
director
2008-11-10
➖
RENILSON, Neil John resigned
director
2000-08-01
➕
STRACHAN, Norman James appointed
secretary
2000-08-01
➕
STRACHAN, Norman James appointed
director
2000-07-31
➖
GORDON, John Edward Douglas resigned
secretary
2000-07-31
➖
GORDON, John Edward Douglas resigned
director
1999-08-01
➕
GORDON, John Edward Douglas appointed
secretary
1999-08-01
➖
KIRK, George Brunton resigned
secretary
1999-08-01
➕
GORDON, John Edward Douglas appointed
director
1999-08-01
➖
HOUSE, Ronald resigned
director
1999-08-01
➖
KIRK, George Brunton resigned
director
1999-02-23
➕
RENILSON, Neil John appointed
director
1998-08-01
➖
EVANS, Charles resigned
director
1998-08-01
➕
HOUSE, Ronald appointed
director
1990-09-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As LOTHIAN COACHES LIMITED
1990-09-25
➕
KIRK, George Brunton appointed
secretary
1990-09-25
➕
EVANS, Charles appointed
director
1990-09-25
➕
KIRK, George Brunton appointed
director

Owner dependency

75/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 36 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

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

Lothian Buses Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Lothian Buses Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

LOTHIAN COACHES LIMITED

This company · SC127507

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

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Lothian Buses Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	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 · Transport & logistics · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
TIMBERBUSH TOURS LIMITED→ SC279983 · est 2005	£8.60M £6.45M–£10.75M	—	—	109	21y	85	65y
EAGLE COURIERS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED→ SC292831 · est 2005	£3.09M £2.32M–£3.86M	—	—	—	20y	87	61y
EAGLE COURIERS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC092113 · est 1985	£3.09M £2.32M–£3.86M	—	—	50	41y	87	61y
RATHO COACHES LIMITED→ SC216681 · est 2001	£2.23M £1.67M–£2.79M	—	—	—	25y	82	66y
A WILLIAMSON HAULAGE LIMITED→ SC306338 · est 2006	—	—	£1.36M	—	19y	82	78y
A. JOHNSTONE HAULAGE LTD.→ SC283850 · est 2005	—	—	£512.2k	—	21y	82	62y
ANDREW BLACK LIMITED→ SC224735 · est 2001	—	—	£3.88M	—	24y	82	64y
BROUGHTON REMOVALS LIMITED→ SC181756 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	28y	82	83y
CHAUFFEUR DRIVE SCOTLAND LIMITED→ SC394052 · est 2011	—	—	£283.1k	—	15y	82	65y
DEREK HEEPS LIMITED→ SC167126 · est 1996	—	—	—	3500	29y	82	63y
DUNBAR REMOVALS AND STORAGE LTD.→ SC165409 · est 1996	—	—	—	13	30y	82	71y
E & M HORSBURGH LIMITED→ SC205341 · est 2000	—	—	—	—	26y	82	66y

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

Incorporated1990-09-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC49390 — SIC 49390

Registered office

55 Annandale Street

Edinburgh

EH7 4AZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-09

Last: 2025-09-25

Officers (1 active · 12 resigned)

BOYD, Sarah Jean→

director · ~46y · appointed 2022-08-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

GORDON, John Edward Douglas→

secretary · appointed 1999-08-01 · resigned 2000-07-31

Resigned

KIRK, George Brunton→

secretary · appointed 1990-09-25 · resigned 1999-08-01

Resigned

STRACHAN, Norman James→

secretary · appointed 2000-08-01 · resigned 2017-01-31

Resigned

CRAIG, William Ian Gold→

director · ~57y · appointed 2008-11-10 · resigned 2016-01-31

Resigned

EVANS, Charles→

director · ~89y · appointed 1990-09-25 · resigned 1998-08-01

Resigned

GORDON, John Edward Douglas→

director · ~76y · appointed 1999-08-01 · resigned 2000-07-31

Resigned

HALL, Richard John→

director · ~55y · appointed 2016-05-01 · resigned 2020-03-31

Resigned

HOUSE, Ronald→

director · ~82y · appointed 1998-08-01 · resigned 1999-08-01

Resigned

KIRK, George Brunton→

director · ~88y · appointed 1990-09-25 · resigned 1999-08-01

Resigned

RENILSON, Neil John→

director · ~71y · appointed 1999-02-23 · resigned 2008-11-10

Resigned

SERAFINI, Nigel Murray→

director · ~66y · appointed 2019-02-14 · resigned 2022-08-12

Resigned

STRACHAN, Norman James→

director · ~65y · appointed 2000-08-01 · resigned 2016-11-25

Resigned

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

Recent filings (98 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-09-29

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2025-09-23

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-10-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2024-09-19

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-09-29

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2023-09-26

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-10-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2022-09-01

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2022-08-26

appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date

officers · AP01

2022-08-26

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-09-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2021-09-02

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2021-01-18

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-10-08

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2020-04-02