Not Woodworking. Researching Companies

[joiner_sim]

Hi all,

I want to find out a companies credit history. Normally I'd check this out thru companies house. However, the company I am trying to research is not listed there under that name. So, my question is... If I have the name of the owner and address of the business, is it at all possible for me to find out the business's credit history? I don't want to ask them for it, as I'm trying to do a background check before I contact them at all.

Thanks for any help/ advice anyone may have.

 

[DeanN]

If you know the website for the company, or have any of their literature, then it should have the registered name on it. Do you know the company number ? A few minutes on the internet should provide the information you need - and if its not available, then its possible they could not be registered.

 

[Woodielanger]

I think they are obliged to display their registered name for everyone to see in their premesis ( if they have premesis)

Also on a similar note, they should also display a business name outside the business premesis ( although I could never work out who was going to police that rule?! ) but even then, that's not to say that will be the registered name.

So companies house can search under directors names ?

Probably not very helpfull but Just a few ideas .... Good luck.

 

[tomatwark]

Is this a limited company you are trying to find out about?

It should be registered at companies house if it is.

Also alot of people will not use their business premises address as their registered address but will use their accountants for example as the registered address.

If it is not limited the owners will be sole traders or a partnership which is a lot harder to find out about.

You do not need to register a trading name.

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

Simon

Your best bet is to find someone who supplies them already and ask them to see if they are good payers. I had this same problem with a company i do regular work for now, but i somehow managed to find someone to ask to find out if they were good payers and luckily the answer was yes.

Being reasonably local to you, I may know who this company is or certainly someone i know will, so upto you if you wanna PM me the name and i can do a little digging for you.

 

[miles_hot]

192.com maybe able to help?

 

[tomatwark]

Simon

Mark's idea is a good one, I have used the local network over the years, it soon gets round in the trade if someone does not pay or does a bad job.

The other thought is to ask one of your suppliers you have a good working relationship with if they have heard of the company you are are looking at, as the chances are if they have had problems with payment it will all come out.

Tom

 

[bugbear]

Is this a limited company you are trying to find out about?

It should be registered at companies house if it is.

If it claims to be a limited company but isn't registered at companies house, run away very quickly.

BugBear

 

[Logos]

A company's trading name and a company's registered name can, and frequently are, two different things. For example a company may be trading under the name ABC but may have been registered with the Companies House under the name DEF Ltd. This is not necessarily an indication of intention to mislead the public and/or its creditors. There may well be commercial reasons for doing this, such as, for example, a diversification in its trading, i.e. it started its history by selling products of a particular kind but ended up selling products of a different kind and it wants to be associated with the products it now sells. If it has a website, it must disclose all the relevant details in it, including the registered and trading names, if they are different.

On the other hand it may not be a limited company at all in which case it will not be registered with the Companies House. It could be a partnership or a sole trader, trading under a specific name. If you have details such as the name of the owner and the name and the address of the business you could potentially for a fee ask a credit check agency to provide you with details of the business history. Depending on your financial commitment it may well worth making such an investment. If you do not want to spend any money then a local informal search, through other local traders may well be your best bet.

Regards

Logos

 

[Dibs-h]

Hi all,

I want to find out a companies credit history. Normally I'd check this out thru companies house. However, the company I am trying to research is not listed there under that name. So, my question is... If I have the name of the owner and address of the business, is it at all possible for me to find out the business's credit history? I don't want to ask them for it, as I'm trying to do a background check before I contact them at all.

Thanks for any help/ advice anyone may have.

http://www.dnb.co.uk/

 

[joiner_sim]

Thanks for all the advice and information you have all given me. The company is not Limited, which is why I cannot find much information, however records I have found show the business has been around since 1991, which is good news for me, just wish there was a little bit more background info available.

 

[RogerS]

.....the business has been around since 1991, .....

Sorry but that is no guarantee that they will still be around tomorrow.

 

[beech1948]

Try Dun and Bradstreet for a proper credit summary. They can and do these for Ltd and non-Ltd companies. If your considering doing business with them then maybe ask them for three referees from amongst their old customers.

I don't think Companies House do credit references only a summary of the company records mandated by to be posted there by Parliament. Its really just a summary of directors/share holdings and previous years accounts and filing of returns. You do get the information about any significant loans/mortgages taken out but nothing about credit history.

regards
Alan