LOTHIAN TRANSPORT LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC263124 · ltd · incorporated 2004-02-09
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
🔔
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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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
9 officers (1 active, 9 linked, 6 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
62 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (34 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-08-26
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2022-08-26
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2022-08-12
    ➕
    BOYD, Sarah Jean appointed
    director
  8. 2022-08-12
    ➖
    SERAFINI, Nigel Murray resigned
    director
  9. 2021-09-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-01-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-04-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2020-04-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2020-03-31
    ➖
    HALL, Richard John resigned
    director
  14. 2020-03-31
    ➕
    SERAFINI, Nigel Murray appointed
    director
  15. 2019-09-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-07-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-08-30
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  19. 2017-02-06
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  20. 2017-01-31
    ➖
    STRACHAN, Norman James resigned
    secretary
  21. 2016-11-28
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  22. 2016-11-25
    ➖
    STRACHAN, Norman James resigned
    director
  23. 2016-05-01
    ➕
    HALL, Richard John appointed
    director
  24. 2016-01-31
    ➖
    CRAIG, William Ian Gold resigned
    director
  25. 2008-11-10
    ➕
    CRAIG, William Ian Gold appointed
    director
  26. 2008-11-10
    ➖
    RENILSON, Neil John resigned
    director
  27. 2005-01-31
    ➕
    STRACHAN, Norman James appointed
    secretary
  28. 2005-01-31
    ➖
    BRODIES SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  29. 2005-01-31
    ➕
    RENILSON, Neil John appointed
    director
  30. 2005-01-31
    ➕
    STRACHAN, Norman James appointed
    director
  31. 2005-01-31
    ➖
    ATHOLL INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  32. 2004-02-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As LOTHIAN TRANSPORT LIMITED
  33. 2004-02-09
    ➕
    BRODIES SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  34. 2004-02-09
    ➕
    ATHOLL INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-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 22 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 TRANSPORT LIMITED
This company · SC263124

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Lothian Buses Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2004-02-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC49390 — SIC 49390

Registered office

55 Annandale Street
Edinburgh
Midlothian
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 · 8 resigned)

BOYD, Sarah Jean→
director · ~46y · appointed 2022-08-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STRACHAN, Norman James→
secretary · appointed 2005-01-31 · resigned 2017-01-31
Resigned
BRODIES SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-02-09 · resigned 2005-01-31
Resigned
CRAIG, William Ian Gold→
director · ~57y · appointed 2008-11-10 · resigned 2016-01-31
Resigned
HALL, Richard John→
director · ~55y · appointed 2016-05-01 · resigned 2020-03-31
Resigned
RENILSON, Neil John→
director · ~71y · appointed 2005-01-31 · resigned 2008-11-10
Resigned
SERAFINI, Nigel Murray→
director · ~66y · appointed 2020-03-31 · resigned 2022-08-12
Resigned
STRACHAN, Norman James→
director · ~65y · appointed 2005-01-31 · resigned 2016-11-25
Resigned
ATHOLL INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2004-02-09 · resigned 2005-01-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (62 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
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-04-02