DRIVE EVENT SOLUTIONS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC368740 · ltd · incorporated 2009-11-18
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£965.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Driving school activities
Sector: Education
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 74/100 (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: 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 (58/100).
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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
43 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £965,190
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£191k
Net Worth
£965k
Current Assets
£509k
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £1.04M | — |
| Current assets | £508.8k | — |
| Cash | £190.9k | — |
| Debtors | £317.9k | — |
| Net assets | £965.2k | — |
| Average employees | — | 100 |
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
2
filings
- • 1 address
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 1 address
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2026-02-10📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2025-12-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-07📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2023-12-07📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2023-11-30➖DALE, Patricia Anne resignedsecretary
- 2023-11-30➖DALE, Patricia Anne resigneddirector
- 2023-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-31📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extendedaccounts · AA01
- 2023-01-11📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-01-11📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2022-11-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-31📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-01-31📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-01-30➖DALE, Euan Gray resigneddirector
- 2021-08-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-03-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-10-23📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2018-10-15➕DALE, Euan Gray appointeddirector
- 2018-03-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2014-04-06➕DALE, Douglas appointeddirector
- 2009-11-18🏢Company incorporatedAs DRIVE EVENT SOLUTIONS LIMITED
- 2009-11-18➕DALE, Patricia Anne appointedsecretary
- 2009-11-18➕DALE, Patricia Anne appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
68/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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
cleanNo 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 Douglas John Dale Individual · British · DOB 10/1981 · age 45 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 31/12/2022 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mrs Patricia Anne Daleceased 31/12/2022· board control · firm interest
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Education & training · EH postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLYDE STRENGTH LTD→ SC873978 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DAKUSFRAN LIMITED→ SC739300 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| DISABILITY EQUALITY SCOTLAND→ SC243392 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| DOUGLAS J. NOBLE LIMITED→ SC247234 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| E C SCOTLAND LIMITED→ SC426926 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| EASTERHOUSE (HENOSIS) LTD→ SC755545 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH CRICKET AND SPORTS CLUB→ SC714619 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH INNOVATIONS LIMITED→ SC148048 · est 1993 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 32y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH MONTESSORI ARTS SCHOOL LIMITED→ SC361617 · est 2009 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH SCIENCE FOUNDATION LTD→ SC126121 · est 1990 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 35y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH SCIENCE WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LTD→ SC802990 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH SCIENCE WORLDWIDE LTD→ SC392467 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2009-11-18
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85530 — Driving school activities
Registered office
8 Auldhame Farm
North Berwick
East Lothian
EH39 5PW
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-02
Last: 2025-11-18
Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)
DALE, Douglas→
Activedirector · ~45y · appointed 2014-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
DALE, Patricia Anne→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2009-11-18 · resigned 2023-11-30
DALE, Euan Gray→
Resigneddirector · ~41y · appointed 2018-10-15 · resigned 2022-01-30
DALE, Patricia Anne→
Resigneddirector · ~71y · appointed 2009-11-18 · resigned 2023-11-30
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (43 total)
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-02-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-07
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-12-07
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-27
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2023-08-31
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-01-11
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-18
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-01-31