LOTHIAN BUSES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC096849 · ltd · incorporated 1986-01-17

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

approaching window · 12-months

Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.

· Oldest live charge 39.5y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

77/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 49390

Sector: Transportation & storage

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 69). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 39.5y

65/100

clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

· Oldest live charge is 39.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 28/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (60/100)

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

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

77 officers (12 active, 77 linked, 68 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

11 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

263 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

77/100Strong

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 change-of-constitution
• 1 incorporation

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 change-of-constitution
• 1 incorporation

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 change-of-constitution
• 1 incorporation

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (156 events)Click to expand

2026-04-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-04-01
➕
DASTEY, Dylan Alfred appointed
director
2026-03-26
📄
statement-of-companys-objects
change-of-constitution · CC04
2026-03-26
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2026-03-26
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-07-15
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-07-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-group
accounts · AA
2025-07-04
➖
BARNES, Colin resigned
director
2025-06-05
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-06-04
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2025-06-04
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-06-01
➕
BENNS, Robert Arthur appointed
secretary
2025-06-01
➕
BENNS, Robert Arthur appointed
director
2025-06-01
➖
BURNESS PAULL LLP resigned
corporate-secretary
2025-03-28
➖
BENSON, John Millar resigned
director
2025-03-28
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-03-21
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-03-21
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-01-21
📄
appoint-corporate-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP04
2025-01-20
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-01-06
➖
BENSON, John Millar resigned
secretary
2025-01-06
➕
BURNESS PAULL LLP appointed
corporate-secretary
2024-11-14
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-11-14
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-11-14
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-11-14
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-11-11
➕
RIVET, Stephanie Céline Karine appointed
director
2024-11-11
➕
STRACHAN, Wilhelmina Cornelia appointed
director
2024-11-11
➖
CASSIDY, Steven resigned
director
2024-11-11
➖
MCFARLANE, James Mclean Henderson resigned
director
2024-08-19
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-08-19
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-group
accounts · AA
2023-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-group
accounts · AA
2023-01-04
➕
BARNES, Colin appointed
director
2022-12-08
➕
HAMILTON, William Alexander appointed
director
2022-10-13
➕
BENSON, John Millar appointed
secretary
2022-10-13
➖
COTTON, Roger resigned
secretary
2022-08-12
➖
SERAFINI, Nigel Murray resigned
director
2021-01-28
➕
BENSON, John Millar appointed
director
2020-12-10
➕
WALLACE, Fraser James appointed
director
2020-12-10
➖
BIENIOWSKI, Ian resigned
director
2020-07-31
➖
ARMSTRONG, James resigned
director
2020-03-31
➕
ARMSTRONG, James appointed
director
2020-03-31
➖
HALL, Richard John resigned
director
2019-04-11
➕
COTTON, Roger appointed
secretary
2018-10-08
➖
MOORHOUSE, Graham Alan resigned
secretary
2018-10-08
➖
MOORHOUSE, Graham Alan resigned
director
2018-08-27
➕
REID, Iain Alexander appointed
director
2018-06-30
➖
MACLEOD, Donald Andrew resigned
director

Showing most recent 50 of 156 events

Owner dependency

55/100

Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS

-11 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 med ·

2 director resignations in last 12 months

medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: BURNESS PAULL LLP resigned 2025-06-01; BARNES, Colin resigned 2025-07-04

Group structure

Transport For Edinburgh Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Transport For Edinburgh Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

LOTHIAN BUSES LIMITED

This company · SC096849

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Transport For Edinburgh Limited Corporate entity	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.

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1986-01-17

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC49390 — SIC 49390

Registered office

55 Annandale Street

Edinburgh

Midlothian

EH7 4AZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-09

Last: 2025-09-25