HISTORIC EDINBURGH TOURS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC454482 · ltd · incorporated 2013-07-15
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Activities of tourist guides
Sector: Administrative & support services
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: 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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 3 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
31 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£3k£5k£8k£11k£14kJul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Total assets—£11.1k
Current assets—£13.6k
Net assets—£9.7k
Average employees0—

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-03-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2025-03-11
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2024-08-26
    ➖
    HOWIE, Melanie Ann resigned
    director
  6. 2024-08-26
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2024-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-10-01
    ➖
    CUNNINGHAM, Paul resigned
    director
  17. 2015-10-01
    ➕
    HOWIE, Melanie Ann appointed
    director
  18. 2013-07-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HISTORIC EDINBURGH TOURS LIMITED
  19. 2013-07-15
    ➕
    HOWIE, Robert appointed
    director
  20. 2013-07-15
    ➕
    CUNNINGHAM, Paul appointed
    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

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

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 Robert Forrest Howie
Individual · Scottish · DOB 01/1975 · age 51
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting27/07/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Melanie Ann Howieceased 28/02/2025· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2013-07-15
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC79901 — Activities of tourist guides

Registered office

28 2 Bridge Road
Colinton
Edinburgh
EH13 0LQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-09
Last: 2026-02-23

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

HOWIE, Robert→
director · ~51y · appointed 2013-07-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CUNNINGHAM, Paul→
director · ~53y · appointed 2013-07-15 · resigned 2015-10-01
Resigned
HOWIE, Melanie Ann→
director · ~52y · appointed 2015-10-01 · resigned 2024-08-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (31 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-03-11
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-03-11
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-08-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-30