TRADE STATIONERS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC197140 · ltd · incorporated 1999-06-11

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

£-10.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 46660

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 79). 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 (76/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

66 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £10,628

Cash YoY

+110%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£4k

↑ 110% YoY

Net Worth

-£11k

↑ 30% YoY

Current Assets

£30k

↓ 17% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£-6.8k	£-2.3k
Current assets	£29.8k	£35.7k
Cash	£3.6k	£1.7k
Debtors	£11.2k	£17.0k
Net assets	£-10.6k	£-15.2k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2025-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-10
📄
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2024-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-07-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-08-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-11-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-16
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-11-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-06-11
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-06-16
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-06-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
1999-06-11
🏢
Company incorporated
As TRADE STATIONERS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
1999-06-11
➕
MORRISON, Susan Mcara appointed
secretary
1999-06-11
➕
MORRISON, John Philip Webster appointed
director
1999-06-11
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-06-11
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

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 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 79 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

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 79 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John Philip Webster Morrison Individual · British · DOB 03/1947 · age 79	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.

Similar companies

Active · Wholesale & distribution · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CENTRAL PRODUCE LTD→ SC349420 · est 2008	—	—	—	1600	17y	83	61y
SCOTIA SUPPLY CO. LTD.→ SC202132 · est 1999	—	—	£422.8k	—	26y	83	63y
ANGUS BRAIDWOOD & SON LIMITED→ SC114086 · est 1988	—	—	£1.62M	—	37y	82	81y
BATHROOM PLANET (STIRLING) LTD.→ SC183947 · est 1998	—	—	£114.1k	—	28y	82	58y
C L C PRESENTATION SYSTEMS LIMITED→ SC215799 · est 2001	—	—	£16.0k	—	25y	82	75y
C.T.S. (GRANGEMOUTH) LIMITED→ SC226255 · est 2001	—	—	—	1000	24y	82	80y
M G INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC245064 · est 2003	—	—	—	800	23y	82	59y
STEWART MCDONALD (PLANT) LIMITED→ SC061597 · est 1977	—	—	£1.9k	—	49y	82	79y
JOHN CALLUM LTD.→ SC196483 · est 1999	—	—	£2.54M	—	26y	81	61y
RW AGENCIES LIMITED→ SC396418 · est 2011	—	—	£836.6k	—	15y	81	65y
CALEDONIAN AIRCRAFT SPARES LIMITED→ SC139284 · est 1992	—	—	—	1	33y	80	70y
CHEETAH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED→ SC187332 · est 1998	—	—	—	200	27y	80	89y

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

Incorporated1999-06-11

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC46660 — SIC 46660

Registered office

2 Viewfield Drive

Alva

Clackmannanshire

FK12 5DT

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-25

Last: 2025-06-11

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

MORRISON, Susan Mcara→

secretary · appointed 1999-06-11

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MORRISON, John Philip Webster→

director · ~79y · appointed 1999-06-11

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-06-11 · resigned 1999-06-11

Resigned

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

Recent filings (66 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-12-15

second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date

confirmation-statement · RP04CS01

2025-07-10