COFFEE DIRECT (SCOTLAND) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC191143 · ltd · incorporated 1998-11-16
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.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47250
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 78). 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 (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
8 officers (1 active, 8 linked, 4 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
75 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£0Mar 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

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-06-22
    📄
    capital-alter-shares-subdivision
    capital · SH02
  5. 2022-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  8. 2021-03-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2021-02-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-11-29
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2019-11-28
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  13. 2019-08-31
    ➖
    WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne resigned
    secretary
  14. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-11-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2017-10-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2008-11-28
    ➕
    WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne appointed
    secretary
  19. 2008-11-28
    ➖
    WHYTE, Yvonne resigned
    secretary
  20. 2008-11-28
    ➖
    WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne resigned
    director
  21. 2008-11-27
    ➕
    WATSON, James appointed
    director
  22. 2003-08-22
    ➖
    WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne resigned
    secretary
  23. 2003-08-22
    ➕
    WHYTE, Yvonne appointed
    secretary
  24. 2003-08-22
    ➖
    WATSON, James resigned
    director
  25. 2003-08-22
    ➕
    WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne appointed
    director
  26. 1998-11-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COFFEE DIRECT (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
  27. 1998-11-16
    ➕
    REID, Brian appointed
    nominee-secretary
  28. 1998-11-16
    ➖
    REID, Brian resigned
    nominee-secretary
  29. 1998-11-16
    ➕
    WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne appointed
    secretary
  30. 1998-11-16
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
    nominee-director
  31. 1998-11-16
    ➖
    MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
    nominee-director
  32. 1998-11-16
    ➕
    WATSON, James appointed
    director

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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

98/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Watson
Individual · Scottish · DOB 07/1948 · age 78
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Margaret Ann Hawthorne Watsonceased 31/08/2019· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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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ENGHIEN TRADING LIMITED→
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated1998-11-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47250 — SIC 47250

Registered office

1 Mallens Brae
Torphichen
Bathgate
West Lothian
EH48 4NY
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last: 2025-11-16

Officers (1 active · 7 resigned)

WATSON, James→
director · ~78y · appointed 2008-11-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
REID, Brian→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-11-16 · resigned 1998-11-16
Resigned
WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne→
secretary · appointed 2008-11-28 · resigned 2019-08-31
Resigned
WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne→
secretary · appointed 1998-11-16 · resigned 2003-08-22
Resigned
WHYTE, Yvonne→
secretary · appointed 2003-08-22 · resigned 2008-11-28
Resigned
MABBOTT, Stephen→
nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1998-11-16 · resigned 1998-11-16
Resigned
WATSON, James→
director · ~78y · appointed 1998-11-16 · resigned 2003-08-22
Resigned
WATSON, Margaret Ann Hawthorne→
director · ~75y · appointed 2003-08-22 · resigned 2008-11-28
Resigned

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

Recent filings (75 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-22
capital-alter-shares-subdivision
capital · SH02
2023-06-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-11-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-22