checkSURE offers Company info
Company Info from checkSURE
General company info is no longer stored in filing cabinets so that only the chosen few can access it. There is no real need to put in written requests for details on a company’s accounts or when they changed the name of the company, nor should the reply require a degree in accountancy or gobbledygook to understand, although sometimes either can be useful even in interpreting company info.
Picture the scene, a busy city centre street, three wines shops adjacent to each other. The first shop very quiet, in fact almost no customers, the second not really much better and third going like a fair. Upon investigation, you notice in the first shop that there are lots of bottles of white, red and rose wine but none of them have any labels on them. When you speak to the only member of staff and say “how do you survive working like this?” and the reply comes back “Oh there’s always somebody just wants a bottle of White Wine and aren’t fussy about where it comes from”. You leave immediately not very impressed. The second shop is the same except that it has the bottles on shelves marked with the country of origin. In response to the same question the single member of staff replies in much the same manner. The last shop has all the bottles labeled, and on shelves showing where they came from and lots of staff who are more than willing to help; much better. Now think in terms of company info.
Where would you shop for Company Info?
If you were meaning to do business with a company wouldn’t you like to be going to the “well labeled” shop? Wouldn’t you rather have your company info where you can access it with relative simplicity?
Company info is now digitised and stored on computer disks or hard drives where it can be accessed by all relevant parties. Most incorporated companies from the SMEs (Small/Medium Enterprises) to the huge corporations have much of their company info stored at Companies House and this information is available to the public. In general terms, much like labeling in supermarkets, the larger the package the more information on the label. All limited companies have accounts that must be declared and filed at Companies House but the small medium enterprises have certain criteria which, if met, mean they don’t have to give the same financial detail but doesn’t preclude them from filing at least abbreviated accounts. Community Interest Companies where all profit is spent on a specific range of benefits to local needs or communities are, in many respects, more tightly monitored, firstly by a regulator and then by also having to file their company info at Companies House.
Unincorporated ‘Company Info’
This is not the case with unincorporated bodies such as sole traders and partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs). Note these points:
- In strictly legal terms, the data associated with these businesses is not ‘company info’ since the owners of this business have not sort the protection afforded by limited liability.
- As this type of business does not have to produce accounts for filing at Companies House, financial information is not available.
- However being able to verify trading address, telephone number, proprietor or manager, how long the business has been trading, do they have any CCJs etc is all information that can be very useful in deciding whether or not to do business with them.
While all the online work is going on the UK journals such as the London Gazette the oldest and still the most important, provides company info that may escape the normal newspapers. While all major bankruptcies are covered by the national press the London Gazette carries information on all insolvencies which are not so “newsworthy” This company info is particularly useful on non-incorporated bodies which otherwise might slip through the reporting net. The London Gazette is now also supplying online information.
All this company info can then be collated and passed to the various credit reporting companies so that after performing a simple company search, they can provide various different reports which range from giving basic credit suggestions perhaps with a credit score to issuing a full company profile. As many of these reports are purchased with updates a target business can be monitored over a period of time before any decisions need be made.
Who Benefits from Company Info?
Accurate company info is of value to many parties. If there is a fault with your labeling, or with the product itself, you want to know about it quickly so that the problem can be rectified. Companies and businesses that are opaque with their details are far easier to do business with than those who try to cover their dealings. If a business has something to hide in its company info, or maybe don’t think that keeping customers and prospective customers informed is important, it may well be that they are not worth doing business with at all. Some times, as with SMEs, the fact that these businesses don’t produce what would class as full accounts is not done for the sake of secrecy, but is done because fuller figures cost more to produce and ratify, and will, considering the scale involved, produce little more useful company info.
The information is out there waiting to be used. checkSURE reports are there to help you make a decision not to make the decision for you. If you use the company info in a practical and effective manner you will have a far better chance of coming out ahead in any business venture – seek out quality company info.
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