How to check a UK company in 5 minutes
Before you sign the contract, pay the deposit or take the job - run this checklist. Everything in it is free public record.
Confirm the company actually exists
Search the register for the exact name on the quote, invoice or contract. Better still, ask for the company number - names can be similar, numbers are unique. No result? The "Ltd" on their letterhead may be fiction, and that's your answer already.
Check status and age
Is the company active - or dissolved, in liquidation or in administration? Then look at the incorporation date. "Trading for 20 years" but incorporated last spring? Companies do restructure legitimately, but the mismatch deserves a question.
Read the filing history
Open the filing history and scan the last two years. Accounts filed on time? Confirmation statement current? A gazette notice for compulsory strike-off - even a discontinued one - means the company was at risk of being struck off the register. Recent charges (MR01) mean a lender has taken security over assets.
Vet the directors
Open each director in Officer Search and look at their other appointments. A history of dissolved companies in the same trade - dissolve, reopen under a new name, repeat - is the classic "phoenix" pattern. A long, stable record at the same companies is the opposite signal.
Cross-check the details
Does the registered office match where they claim to be based (a mail-forwarding address isn't a red flag by itself, but note it)? Do the SIC codes match what they say they do? Any recent name changes? Finally, save the company so its latest record stays one tap away for the length of your relationship.
Red flags at a glance
- Company doesn't exist, or name/number don't match paperwork
- Status is anything other than active
- Overdue accounts or confirmation statement
- Strike-off notices in the filing history
- Director trail of dissolved companies in the same trade
- Company only weeks old but claiming a long track record
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. The register tells you what was filed - for high-stakes decisions, pair it with professional advice.
Run the whole checklist from your phone - free.
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