Guide
How to check a UK company is legitimate and safe to trade with
Ten checks to run before you pay a company, sell to it on credit or sign a contract with it. Most take a minute or two on free official registers.
Last reviewed
The ten checks
- 1
Confirm it is a registered company
Find the company on the Companies House register and check that the name and number match exactly what is on its invoices, emails, website and contract. UK companies must show their registered name, number and registered office on their website and business documents.
- Where to look
- Companies House
- Warning signs
- No company number anywhere, a number that belongs to a different company, or a name that differs by a word or a letter. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are not on the register, which is not a problem in itself, but then you are dealing with a person, not a company.
- 2
Check its status and age
The status should be Active. Note the incorporation date: how long the company has existed tells you how much track record there can be.
- Where to look
- Companies House
- Warning signs
- Any status other than Active, such as Active - Proposal to Strike off, Liquidation, In Administration or Dissolved. A company only weeks old that is taking large orders or asking for money up front.
- 3
Look at its filing record
The register shows when the next accounts and confirmation statement are due, and whether either is overdue. Companies that run their affairs properly file on time.
- Where to look
- Companies House filing history
- Warning signs
- Accounts or confirmation statement overdue, or filed late year after year.
- 4
Read the latest accounts
Small companies file very little detail, but the balance sheet still shows whether assets exceed liabilities, and how that has changed from the year before.
- Where to look
- Companies House filing history
- Warning signs
- Negative net assets that are getting worse, or dormant accounts from a company that says it has been trading for years.
- 5
See who runs and owns it
Check the directors and the persons with significant control, and look at what other companies the directors run. Search the register of disqualified directors for anyone you are unsure about.
- Warning signs
- Directors replaced just before you were approached, directors whose other companies keep failing, no registered controller, or ownership through a chain of overseas companies you cannot see through.
- 6
Search The Gazette
The Gazette publishes winding-up petitions, insolvency appointments and proposals to strike off, often before the register status changes.
- Where to look
- The Gazette
- Warning signs
- Any recent winding-up petition or insolvency notice, or a compulsory strike-off proposal.
- 7
Check its VAT number
If the company charges VAT, HMRC’s free checker confirms the number is valid and shows the name and address it is registered to. Not every business is VAT registered, so a missing number is not a problem on its own, but VAT must not be charged without one.
- Where to look
- Check a UK VAT number (HMRC)
- Warning signs
- VAT charged with no number, a number that is invalid, or a number registered to a different business.
- 8
Screen against sanctions
Search the UK Sanctions List for the company, its directors and its owners. It has been the only list of UK sanctions designations since 28 January 2026.
- Where to look
- UK Sanctions List
- Warning signs
- Any match. Check the details carefully, as names alone produce false matches.
- 9
Check any licence its work needs
Some work needs a licence or registration: financial services (the FCA register, and its warning list of firms to avoid), care (CQC), gas work (Gas Safe Register), waste carrying (Environment Agency), haulage (operator licences) and food (food hygiene ratings).
- Where to look
- FCA register
- Warning signs
- Not on the register its work requires, or a firm that appears on a regulator's warning list.
- 10
Rule out impersonation and payment fraud
Fraudsters often pose as real, healthy companies, so a clean register record does not prove you are dealing with that company. Check the website and email domain belong to it, and confirm any bank details by phone on a number you already hold.
- Where to look
- Your bank's Confirmation of Payee check
- Warning signs
- A lookalike name or email domain, a website much newer than the company, payment to a personal account or an account in a different name, or bank details changed by email.
When to go further
A warning sign is a reason to ask questions, not proof of a problem: many have harmless explanations. Ask the company, and keep a note of what you checked, when, and what you decided.
If the company will be important to your business, or you are setting up checks for many suppliers, use the fuller process in Supplier due diligence in the UK: how much to check for each supplier, a longer checklist and what evidence to keep.
How common are warning signs?
More common than most people expect. These are the shares of all UK companies that file accounts at Companies House showing each sign today.
Figures by sector, area, company age and size are in the UK Supplier Risk Index.
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