S. & D. E. ROBERTSON (INSCH) LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC267556 · ltd · incorporated 2004-05-07
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 16.4y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 16.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
63 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
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£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Average employees200200

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2023-08-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2023-07-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-06-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2023-06-11
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  8. 2022-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-07-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-04-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2018-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-07-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2010-01-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2004-05-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As S. & D. E. ROBERTSON (INSCH) LTD.
  18. 2004-05-07
    ➕
    ROBERTSON, Diane Elizabeth appointed
    secretary
  19. 2004-05-07
    ➕
    ROBERTSON, Stuart appointed
    director
  20. 2004-05-07
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2004-05-07
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2004-05-07
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2004-05-07
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2004-05-07
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2004-05-07
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ROBERTSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stuart Robertson
Individual · British · DOB 08/1961 · age 65
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting11/06/2023
Mrs Diane Elizabeth Robertson
Individual · British · DOB 07/1967 · age 59
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting01/05/2017

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated2004-05-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

Castlecross
Leslie
Insch
AB52 6NX
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-21
Last: 2026-05-07

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

ROBERTSON, Diane Elizabeth→
secretary · appointed 2004-05-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ROBERTSON, Stuart→
director · ~65y · appointed 2004-05-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-05-07 · resigned 2004-05-07
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-05-07 · resigned 2004-05-07
Resigned
PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-05-07 · resigned 2004-05-07
Resigned

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
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Floating charge1 property27/01/2010—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (63 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-08-27
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-06
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-06-11
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-06-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-10