LASER TONER SOLUTIONS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC177757 · ltd · incorporated 1997-08-06
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2024
Net worth
£579.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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 (73/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 12.4y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 12.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
8 officers (1 active, 8 linked, 6 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
76 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £579,501
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£580k
↑ 1.5% YoY
Current Assets
£46k
↓ 15% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-09-30 | 2023-09-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £590.8k | £590.1k |
| Current assets | £45.9k | £54.0k |
| Net assets | £579.5k | £571.0k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
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 (33 events)Click to expand
- 2025-06-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-23📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-03-23📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2022-03-21➕JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel appointeddirector
- 2022-03-21➖LOVE, Scott resigneddirector
- 2021-06-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-06-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-01➖JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel resignedsecretary
- 2018-06-01➖JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel resigneddirector
- 2018-06-01➖JOHNSTON, Linda Margaret resigneddirector
- 2018-06-01➕LOVE, Scott appointeddirector
- 2018-06-01📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2018-06-01📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2018-06-01📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2018-06-01📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2017-06-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-10-27📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2013-11-20🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC (SC327000)
- 1998-08-28➕JOHNSTON, Linda Margaret appointeddirector
- 1998-03-27➖CRAIG, Paul resigneddirector
- 1997-08-06🏢Company incorporatedAs LASER TONER SOLUTIONS LIMITED
- 1997-08-06➕JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel appointedsecretary
- 1997-08-06➕REID, Brian appointednominee-secretary
- 1997-08-06➖REID, Brian resignednominee-secretary
- 1997-08-06➕CRAIG, Paul appointeddirector
- 1997-08-06➕JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel appointeddirector
- 1997-08-06➕MABBOTT, Stephen appointednominee-director
- 1997-08-06➖MABBOTT, Stephen resignednominee-director
Owner dependency
83/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
65/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
Red flags
cleanNo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Graeme Samuel Johnston Individual · British · DOB 04/1968 · age 58 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/06/2016 |
Mrs Linda Margaret Johnston Individual · British · DOB 08/1958 · age 68 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/06/2016 |
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 · Retail · ML postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HULME & SCOTT LTD.→ SC301302 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| J. & C. STUART PHARMACIES LIMITED→ SC237335 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| JPH TRADERS LTD→ SC775175 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| JUNIOR & OLIVER LTD→ SC846690 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| KEGMART LIMITED→ SC691333 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| KENNETH MOORE (INVERNESS) LIMITED→ SC206063 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 26y | — | — |
| KHUZAIM LTD→ SC853525 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| KIDS TALK RUTHERGLEN LTD→ SC673334 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| KST PHARM LTD→ SC375579 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| LANARKSHIRE HEALTHCARE LTD→ SC774925 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| LAVITA STORES LTD→ SC833950 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| LBK9 LTD→ SC860716 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated1997-08-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47789 — Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Registered office
43-45 South Bridge Street
Airdrie
Lanarkshire
ML6 6JQ
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-03
Last: 2025-09-19
Officers (1 active · 7 resigned)
JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel→
Activedirector · ~58y · appointed 2022-03-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1997-08-06 · resigned 2018-06-01
REID, Brian→
Resignednominee-secretary · appointed 1997-08-06 · resigned 1997-08-06
CRAIG, Paul→
Resigneddirector · ~58y · appointed 1997-08-06 · resigned 1998-03-27
JOHNSTON, Graeme Samuel→
Resigneddirector · ~58y · appointed 1997-08-06 · resigned 2018-06-01
JOHNSTON, Linda Margaret→
Resigneddirector · ~68y · appointed 1998-08-28 · resigned 2018-06-01
LOVE, Scott→
Resigneddirector · ~43y · appointed 2018-06-01 · resigned 2022-03-21
MABBOTT, Stephen→
Resignednominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1997-08-06 · resigned 1997-08-06
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC (SC327000) | A registered charge | 1 property | 20/11/2013 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (76 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-03-23
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-04