THE SCOTTISH LITERARY TOUR TRUST

💤Zombieactive
SC163427 · private-limited-guarant-nsc · incorporated 1996-02-16
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 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Support activities to performing arts
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (69/100)

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
91 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
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£0Aug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Average employees00

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-05
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  3. 2025-06-11
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  4. 2025-05-20
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  5. 2024-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-06-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  8. 2023-05-09
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  9. 2022-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-05-18
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  11. 2022-05-03
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  12. 2021-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-09-10
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  15. 2019-09-03
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  16. 2019-06-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  17. 2019-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2005-04-04
    ➖
    HBJ SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2000-12-01
    ➖
    DEVLIN, Vivien resigned
    director
  20. 1999-02-15
    ➖
    PATON, Morris resigned
    secretary
  21. 1996-03-21
    ➕
    PATON, Morris appointed
    director
  22. 1996-03-21
    ➕
    PATON, Morris appointed
    secretary
  23. 1996-03-21
    ➕
    DEVLIN, Vivien appointed
    director
  24. 1996-03-21
    ➖
    HENDERSON BOYD JACKSON LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  25. 1996-02-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE SCOTTISH LITERARY TOUR TRUST
  26. 1996-02-16
    ➕
    HBJ SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  27. 1996-02-16
    ➕
    HENDERSON BOYD JACKSON LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
🔒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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FESTIVALS EDINBURGH LIMITED→
SC331673 · est 2007
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£139.6k–£219.4k
——618y8670y
ALHAMBRA THEATRE TRUST→
SC345187 · est 2008 · no financials extracted
————17y8377y
ARCHERFIELD & FIDRA GOLF COURSES LIMITED→
SC260327 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
————22y8379y
ASSEMBLY THEATRE LIMITED→
SC092088 · est 1985
——£185.5k—41y8378y
BRAID HILLS SHOP LIMITED→
SC177390 · est 1997 · no financials extracted
————28y8370y
CHEEK BY JOWL THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED→
SC078954 · est 1982 · no financials extracted
————44y8374y
CORRIES (MUSIC) LTD., THE→
SC056353 · est 1974
——£2—51y8389y
DM AUDIO LIMITED→
SC245613 · est 2003
———923y8361y
HISTORIC CHURCHES SCOTLAND→
SC162884 · est 1996 · no financials extracted
————30y8377y
MAGNETIC NORTH THEATRE PRODUCTIONS LIMITED→
SC199210 · est 1999 · no financials extracted
————26y8375y
RADICAL TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED→
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————34y8361y
THE SCOTCH WHISKY HERITAGE CENTRE LIMITED→
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————39y8377y
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
Typeprivate-limited-guarant-nsc
Incorporated1996-02-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC90020 — Support activities to performing arts

Registered office

34 North Castle Street
Edinburgh
Midlothian
EH2 3BN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-02
Last: 2026-02-16

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

PATON, Morris→
director · ~62y · appointed 1996-03-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PATON, Morris→
secretary · appointed 1996-03-21 · resigned 1999-02-15
Resigned
HBJ SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 1996-02-16 · resigned 2005-04-04
Resigned
DEVLIN, Vivien→
director · ~66y · appointed 1996-03-21 · resigned 2000-12-01
Resigned
HENDERSON BOYD JACKSON LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 1996-02-16 · resigned 1996-03-21
Resigned

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

Recent filings (91 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-04
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-07-05
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2025-06-11
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2025-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-05
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-31
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-28
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-17