Guides for procurement and supplier management

Plain-English guides to UK company rules and checks: what a company's status means, what it has to file and when, and what to check before you trade with it, lend to it or take it on as a client.

• Supplier due diligence checklist for UK companiesChecklist

  Supplier due diligence in the UK means confirming the supplier is a real, active company, knowing who owns and controls it, screening it and its people against the UK Sanctions List, testing its financial standing from filed accounts, checking insurance, data protection and modern slavery compliance, and keeping that picture current by monitoring for the life of the contract.

• Supplier economic and financial standing under the Procurement Act 2023Guide

  Under section 22 of the Procurement Act 2023, a contracting authority may test a supplier's financial capacity only through proportionate conditions of participation, and cannot demand audited accounts the supplier is not legally required to have. The government's guidance note scores eight standard metrics, uses consolidated figures where prepared and allows a parent company guarantee as mitigation.

• Group accounts or company accounts: which figures to rely onComparison

  Rely on the accounts of the company you contract with. Group accounts consolidate the parent and its subsidiaries for the parent's members, but a creditor can claim only against the legal entity it trades with unless another group company has guaranteed the debt. Use group figures for context and the guarantor's own figures for any guarantee.

• How to check a UK company against the sanctions listHow-to

  Search the company's current and former names, its directors and its persons with significant control on the UK Sanctions List search tool, which since 28 January 2026 has been the only UK list. Then check ownership: a company more than 50% owned or otherwise controlled by a designated person is caught even if it is not named.

• How to check a business customer's creditworthiness in the UKHow-to

  Confirm the exact legal entity you will invoice and that it is active, then check its filing record, latest balance sheet and notes, registered charges, Gazette notices and the judgments register. Add trade references and a signed credit application. Turn the findings into a limit, terms and any security, then monitor the company for changes.

• How to check if a UK company is legitimate (and spot a scam)How-to

  Find the company on the Companies House register by its number and confirm it is active, then check that the details you were given match: name, registered office, directors, incorporation date and business. Verify any VAT number with HMRC, check the FCA register for financial services, and treat new companies, mismatches and default addresses as warning signs.

• How to read a UK company balance sheet in ten minutesGuide

  Read it top to bottom in the statutory order: fixed assets, current assets, creditors due within a year, net current assets, longer-term creditors and provisions, then capital and reserves, which equal net assets. Compare each line with last year, then read the creditors and security notes. Small companies rarely publish turnover, so most judgements rest on this page.

• KYB checks on a UK limited company: a 2026 checklistChecklist

  KYB on a UK limited company means proving it exists and is active on the Companies House register, identifying its directors and the people who own or control it, screening them against the UK Sanctions List, checking the directors for disqualification, and reviewing Gazette notices, filing history and accounts before recording a pass, refer or fail decision.

• Warning signs a UK company is in financial troubleGuide

  Public warning signs include overdue accounts or confirmation statements, falling or negative net assets, rising tax creditors, new all-assets charges, a going-concern warning, auditor or director departures, a registered office moved to the Companies House default address, and Gazette notices such as winding-up petitions. Slow or part payments in your own ledger often come first.

• How to check a UK company before you trade with itHow-to

  Find the company on the Companies House register and check its status, registered office, filing history, accounts, directors and people with significant control. Then search The Gazette for insolvency notices, screen the company and its owners against the UK Sanctions List, check its VAT number and confirm the account name before you make the first payment.

All guides · How we write our guides