Where every finding comes from.
We only read public registers. Each one below says what we take from it, and how often we re-read it. When a source corrects itself, we correct the page and record the change.
Company existence, status, incorporation date, registered name and number, previous names, nature of business, registered office town, filing deadlines and whether any are overdue, filing history, charges, who controls the company (the kind and size of control; a controlling company is named, an individual never is), and whether directors have verified their identity. Directors' names are used only to confirm who claims a page and are never published.
Whether a VAT number is valid and registered to the company.
Domain age and registration, to compare against claimed trading history.
Whether the site presents a valid certificate.
Whether the domain resolves and can receive email, and the record a company adds to prove it controls the domain.
Insolvency notices under the company's name. A notice is read by a person before anything is published, because names repeat.
The coordinates of the registered office postcode, to place the company in a town. Open data from the Office for National Statistics.
How corrections work
If a finding is out of date or mistaken, tell us where the source says otherwise. We re-read it, correct the page, and note the change in the verification history with its new date.