JAMES PATERSON HAULAGE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC277313 · ltd · incorporated 2004-12-13

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Freight transport by road

Sector: Transportation & storage

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 18.3y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 18.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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

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

Directors & officers

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

55 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Average employees	12	1300

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2025-08-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-07-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-07-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-12-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-11-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-12-18
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2011-06-29
➖
CRAWFORD, Alice Maureen resigned
secretary
2011-06-29
➖
CRAWFORD, Alice Maureen resigned
director
2008-01-29
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2005-04-12
➕
CRAWFORD, Alice Maureen appointed
director
2004-12-13
🏢
Company incorporated
As JAMES PATERSON HAULAGE LIMITED
2004-12-13
➕
PATERSON, James Philip appointed
director
2004-12-13
➕
CRAWFORD, Alice Maureen appointed
secretary
2004-12-13
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-12-13
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "PATERSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

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 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr James Philip Paterson Individual · British · DOB 05/1949 · age 77	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Transport & logistics · IV postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
PLM DOLLAR GROUP LIMITED→ SC157532 · est 1995	£9.10M £6.82M–£11.37M	—	—	8400	31y	81	67y
CRESTMOUNT LIMITED→ SC210376 · est 2000	—	—	£99.3k	—	25y	83	62y
ISLE OF SKYE FERRY COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY→ SC297537 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	83	76y
ORD STORAGE SERVICES LTD.→ SC223112 · est 2001 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	24y	83	70y
SCOTLINE MARINE HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC161473 · est 1995 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	30y	83	87y
B CORMACK & SON LIMITED→ SC236297 · est 2002	—	—	£222.4k	—	23y	82	62y
CHAUFFEURS INVERNESS LIMITED→ SC350202 · est 2008	—	—	£48.2k	—	17y	82	74y
EURO COACH SERVICES LIMITED→ SC133208 · est 1991	—	—	—	0	34y	82	65y
GLENFOLD LTD.→ SC377452 · est 2010	—	—	£752.2k	—	16y	82	62y
MACKENZIE HAULAGE (HIGHLAND) LTD.→ SC253688 · est 2003	—	—	£51.6k	—	22y	82	58y
ABERDEEN TAXIS LIMITED→ SC447966 · est 2013	—	—	£785.2k	—	13y	80	62y
BELLA JANE BOAT TRIPS LIMITED→ SC378421 · est 2010	—	—	£68.9k	—	15y	80	68y

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

Incorporated2004-12-13

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

Redwood

19 Culduthel Road

Inverness

IV2 4AA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-27

Last: 2025-12-13

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

PATERSON, James Philip→

director · ~77y · appointed 2004-12-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CRAWFORD, Alice Maureen→

secretary · appointed 2004-12-13 · resigned 2011-06-29

Resigned

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-12-13 · resigned 2004-12-13

Resigned

CRAWFORD, Alice Maureen→

director · ~78y · appointed 2005-04-12 · resigned 2011-06-29

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	29/01/2008	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.