COPPIES BAR LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC474701 · ltd · incorporated 2014-04-08

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

£6.2k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Public houses and bars

Sector: Accommodation & food service

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 69). 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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

26 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £6,165

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£6k

↑ 1791% YoY

Current Assets

£13k

↓ 51% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Total assets	£6.2k	£326
Current assets	£13.0k	£26.5k
Net assets	£6.2k	£326

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand

2026-04-14
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-01-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-04-22
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2018-01-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-02-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-05-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2015-06-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-04-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As COPPIES BAR LTD
2014-04-08
➕
WATSON, John George Aitken appointed
director

Owner dependency

95/100

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 69 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100

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 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John George Aitken Watson Individual · British · DOB 05/1957 · age 69	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Hospitality · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
THE BONHAM HOTEL EDINBURGH LIMITED→ SC118669 · est 1989	£13.13M £9.85M–£16.41M	—	—	65	37y	83	69y
OMNI TAVERNS LTD.→ SC307655 · est 2006	£2.89M £2.17M–£3.61M	—	—	85	19y	87	60y
ADJUSTLIGHT LIMITED→ SC139599 · est 1992 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	33y	83	58y
ARCHERFIELD HOUSE HOTEL MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC272735 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	83	79y
DESTINATION EDINBURGH LIMITED→ SC357298 · est 2009	—	—	£254.5k	—	17y	83	58y
ELITE HOTELS LIMITED→ SC103199 · est 1987	—	—	—	0	39y	83	76y
MORAG'S LODGES LIMITED→ SC192271 · est 1998 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	27y	83	61y
SALTIRE HOSPITALITY LIMITED→ SC208776 · est 2000	—	—	—	83	26y	83	63y
SCOTS GUARDS ASSOCIATION CLUB, LIMITED→ SC013223 · est 1924	—	—	—	6	102y	83	80y
STAY CITY APARTMENTS LTD.→ SC338588 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	83	59y
SURGEONS QUARTER LIMITED→ SC256751 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	22y	83	82y
SWS (GLASGOW ROAD) LIMITED→ SC335054 · est 2007	—	—	—	2200	18y	83	61y

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

Incorporated2014-04-08

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56302 — Public houses and bars

Registered office

87a South Street

Armadale

Bathgate

West Lothian

EH48 3EU

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-22

Last: 2026-04-08

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

WATSON, John George Aitken→

director · ~69y · appointed 2014-04-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (26 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-04-14

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-04-14