CITY CARS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC334656 · ltd · incorporated 2007-11-29

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 18.2y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Nov 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45112

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 18.2y

85/100

ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

· Oldest live charge is 18.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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 (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

4 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

48 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

Some acquirability indicators.

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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-11-30	2023-11-30
Average employees	300	300

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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

2025-08-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-08-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-11-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-08-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-11-29
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-05-01
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2008-09-23
➖
MCDONALD, Angela Agnes resigned
secretary
2008-07-24
➕
MCDONALD, Richard Alexander appointed
director
2008-01-28
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2008-01-25
➕
MCDONALD, Angela Agnes appointed
secretary
2008-01-25
➖
ANDREW PHILIP resigned
corporate-secretary
2007-11-29
🏢
Company incorporated
As CITY CARS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
2007-11-29
➕
MCDONALD, John Jamieson appointed
director
2007-11-29
➕
ANDREW PHILIP appointed
corporate-secretary

Owner dependency

76/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

59/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 18 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Richard Alexander Mcdonald Individual · British · DOB 10/1970 · age 56	25–50%	25–50%	board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control	06/04/2016
Mr John Jamieson Mcdonald Individual · British · DOB 05/1991 · age 35	25–50%	25–50%	board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control	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 →

Similar companies

Active · Automotive · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
AUTOMASTERS INVERURIE LTD→ SC570730 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
AUTOVATION LTD→ SC734034 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
BLACKBURN GARAGE LIMITED→ SC455822 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
BOTHIEBRIG GARAGE SERVICES LIMITED→ SC625563 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
BRIAN HENDERSON CAR SALES LTD→ SC745274 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
C&P PHILLIPS LTD→ SC746736 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
CENTRAL GARAGE (LAURENCEKIRK) LTD→ SC744393 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
CHALLENGER ENERGY LIMITED→ SC378755 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
CHALMERS TRANSMISSIONS LIMITED→ SC449741 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
CITYVOE LIMITED→ SC274365 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
CJ AUTO (ABDN) LTD→ SC706363 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—
CJE REPAIRS (UK) LTD→ SC650758 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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

Incorporated2007-11-29

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC45112 — SIC 45112

Registered office

Brookfield, Murtleden Road

Milltimber

Aberdeen

AB13 0HS

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-08-31

Last made up to: 2024-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-13

Last: 2025-11-29

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

MCDONALD, John Jamieson→

director · ~35y · appointed 2007-11-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCDONALD, Richard Alexander→

director · ~56y · appointed 2008-07-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCDONALD, Angela Agnes→

secretary · appointed 2008-01-25 · resigned 2008-09-23

Resigned

ANDREW PHILIP→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-11-29 · resigned 2008-01-25

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
	satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	28/01/2008	01/05/2012