ESSBEE COACHES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC196799 · ltd · incorporated 1999-06-02
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 49390
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). 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 (75/100)

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
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 2 with DOB)
76
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
86 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
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£24k£47k£71k£95k£118kAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets—£135.8k
Current assets—£59.3k
Cash—£28.7k
Debtors—£30.6k
Net assets—£118.2k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-11-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-11-24
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  4. 2025-10-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2024-11-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-09-22
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2024-09-12
    ➖
    MORRIS, Tom Murray resigned
    director
  8. 2023-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-01-31
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  12. 2022-01-31
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2021-11-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2021-11-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2021-05-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2020-06-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-04-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  18. 2019-04-25
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  19. 2019-04-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  20. 2013-10-07
    ➕
    SMITH, Lyudmyla appointed
    secretary
  21. 2013-10-07
    ➖
    BRUCE, Lisa Taylor Mckay resigned
    secretary
  22. 2007-06-12
    ➕
    MORRIS, Tom Murray appointed
    director
  23. 2004-05-31
    ➕
    BRUCE, Lisa Taylor Mckay appointed
    secretary
  24. 2004-05-31
    ➖
    SMITH, Donna Anne resigned
    secretary
  25. 1999-06-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ESSBEE COACHES LIMITED
  26. 1999-06-02
    ➕
    SMITH, Brian appointed
    director
  27. 1999-06-02
    ➕
    SMITH, Donna Anne appointed
    secretary
  28. 1999-06-02
    ➕
    FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  29. 1999-06-02
    ➖
    FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  30. 1999-06-02
    ➕
    FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  31. 1999-06-02
    ➖
    FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
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 68. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Brian Smith
Individual · British · DOB 01/1958 · age 68
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Lyudmyla Smith
Individual · Russian · DOB 11/1974 · age 52
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Brian Smithceased 24/11/2025· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting

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

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CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
LONG LANE DELIVERIES LTD.→
SC230233 · est 2002
£3.70M
£2.77M–£4.62M
——33124y8261y
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SC214783 · est 2001
£2.99M
£2.24M–£3.74M
——770025y8058y
HODGE HEAVY HAULAGE LIMITED→
SC197139 · est 1999
£43.6k
£32.7k–£54.5k
£125.7k—10027y8564y
BLUE BUS LIMITED→
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———190022y8267y
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——£601.6k—27y8258y
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———323y8267y
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———3921y8267y
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——£7.5k—19y8273y
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——£3.1k—25y8262y
E.G. STEELE & COMPANY LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated1999-06-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC49390 — SIC 49390

Registered office

7 Hollandhurst Road
Coatbridge
ML5 2EG
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-24
Last: 2025-11-10

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

SMITH, Lyudmyla→
secretary · appointed 2013-10-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Brian→
director · ~68y · appointed 1999-06-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRUCE, Lisa Taylor Mckay→
secretary · appointed 2004-05-31 · resigned 2013-10-07
Resigned
SMITH, Donna Anne→
secretary · appointed 1999-06-02 · resigned 2004-05-31
Resigned
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-06-02 · resigned 1999-06-02
Resigned
MORRIS, Tom Murray→
director · ~67y · appointed 2007-06-12 · resigned 2024-09-12
Resigned
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-06-02 · resigned 1999-06-02
Resigned

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

Recent filings (86 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-11-24
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-11-24
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-10-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-16
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-01-31
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-01-31