HIGHLAND CLASSIC CAR HIRE LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC660613 · ltd · incorporated 2020-05-05
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 May 2025
Net worth
£-105.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Renting and leasing of cars and light motor vehicles
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 70/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -93% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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
18 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £105,064
Cash draining
Cash down 93% YoY
Cash YoY
-93%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£487
↓ 93% YoY
Net Worth
-£105k
↓ 32% YoY
Current Assets
£3k
↓ 73% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£105k-£82k-£59k-£36k-£13k£10kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£-105.1k£-79.6k
Current assets£2.6k£9.6k
Cash£487£7.5k
Net assets£-105.1k£-79.6k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
4
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 officers
  • 1 persons-with-significant-control
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-11-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-11-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2025-11-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2024-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-12-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2024-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-10-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-08-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2021-08-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2021-08-03
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2020-05-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HIGHLAND CLASSIC CAR HIRE LTD
  14. 2020-05-05
    LYONS, David Benjamin appointed
    director
  15. 2020-05-05
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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 David Benjamin Lyons
Individual · British · DOB 01/1974 · age 52
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control05/05/2020

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
Incorporated2020-05-05
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC77110 — Renting and leasing of cars and light motor vehicles

Registered office

Kinchyle Farm
Nairn
Nairn-Shire
IV12 5NY
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-18
Last: 2025-05-04

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

LYONS, David Benjamin
director · ~52y · appointed 2020-05-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (18 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-01-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-11-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-11-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-12-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-10-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-03
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-08-03