LOTHIAN HIRE CENTRE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC473470 · ltd · incorporated 2014-03-25
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 70). 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 (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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 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
32 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees8600

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2024-11-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-03-12
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2023-10-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-04-05
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2022-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-04-07
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2021-03-29
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2021-03-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-10-15
    ➖
    FOTHERINGHAM, Andrew Dennis resigned
    director
  13. 2019-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-01-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2014-03-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As LOTHIAN HIRE CENTRE LIMITED
  18. 2014-03-25
    ➕
    WILSON, Margaret Lennon Robertson appointed
    director
  19. 2014-03-25
    ➕
    FOTHERINGHAM, Andrew Dennis appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
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 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Miss Margaret Lennon Robertson Wilson
Individual · British · DOB 01/1956 · age 70
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • The Estate Of Mr Andrew Dennis Fotheringhamceased 25/03/2022· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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
Incorporated2014-03-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC77320 — Renting and leasing of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment

Registered office

10 Abbey Park Place
Dunfermline
Fife
KY12 7NZ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-08
Last: 2026-03-25

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

WILSON, Margaret Lennon Robertson→
director · ~70y · appointed 2014-03-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOTHERINGHAM, Andrew Dennis→
director · ~69y · appointed 2014-03-25 · resigned 2020-10-15
Resigned

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

Recent filings (32 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-31
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-03-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-04-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-04-07