EDINBURGH COURIER NETWORK LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC444581 · ltd · incorporated 2013-03-08
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Unlicenced Carrier
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 72/100 (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: 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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
29 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
82
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
Average employees100100

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 (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-12-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-10-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2023-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-03-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-03-26
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2013-03-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As EDINBURGH COURIER NETWORK LTD
  17. 2013-03-08
    STIRLAND, Stuart Paul appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 13 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
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.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stuart Paul Stirland
Individual · British · DOB 05/1984 · age 42
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2013-03-08
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC53202 — Unlicenced Carrier

Registered office

18 Office 194
Young Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4JB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-24
Last: 2026-02-10

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

STIRLAND, Stuart Paul
director · ~42y · appointed 2013-03-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (29 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-10-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-19