Last Updated on November 3, 2026
Most people judge a business by how its website looks. A smart website costs a few hundred pounds. It proves nothing about who you are about to pay.
The things that do prove something are small and easy to check. This page lists seven of them, with what Whito found when it checked real UK firms. It takes about five minutes.
The seven checks
1. Find the company name and number
Every UK limited company must show three things on its website: which part of the UK it is registered in, its company number, and its registered office address. That is the law (regulation 25 of the 2015 trading disclosure regulations). Look in the footer, the contact page or the terms.
Many firms leave it out. When Whito checked 113 trade and dental websites run by limited companies on 14 October 2026, 46 showed no company number on the homepage or their contact, privacy or terms pages. See the company numbers study.
2. Look the number up on Companies House
Use the free Find and update company information service. Check three things: the company is active, the name matches the website, and the address makes sense. The record also shows whether the directors have verified their identity. In Whito’s check of 460 active companies on 29 October 2026, 421 showed every director verified. See the director ID check.
3. Check the register the trade needs
Gas work needs Gas Safe. Financial advice needs the FCA. Care needs the CQC. A logo on a website is not proof. The register is. Which register to use for which trade.
4. Make sure the details match
The name, number and address on the register should match what the website says. A registered office is often an accountant’s address, and that is normal. What matters is that the details agree with each other.
5. Look for a price, or how pricing works
Prices are rare. When Whito drew 568 UK limited companies at random on 2 November 2026, only 33 (5.8%) could be found by name and showed a price on their website. See the UK Business Truth Report. No price is not a warning sign on its own. It means you should get a written quote before any work starts. Our price transparency tracker shows which kinds of firms usually publish prices.
6. Search the registered name yourself
If you found the firm through an advert, a directory or an AI answer, search its registered name and town. See whether what comes back matches. In the same study, a search for the registered name and city found the company’s own website for 141 of 568 companies (25%). So a weak search result is common, but a result that points somewhere different is worth a question.
7. Treat directory badges and AI answers as leads, not proof
Listings and AI answers can be out of date. When Whito checked 100 limited-company listings on Cylex UK on 28 September 2026, 18 did not lead to an active company. See the Cylex check. Of 728 businesses that AI assistants recommended in August 2026, 38 (5.2%) could not be confirmed as an active business trading in the town named. See the integrity report.
If a check fails
A failed check is a reason to ask a question, not proof that anything is wrong. Sole traders are not on Companies House at all. Names are sometimes registered slightly differently from the trading name. Ask the firm for its company number or registration number, then search by that number.
Run a business?
Make these checks easy for your customers. Put your registered name, company number, registered office and any registration numbers in your website footer. Say how your pricing works, even if you cannot give a fixed price. Our free Website Legal Details Checker shows what your website is missing, and the free Visibility Check shows whether search engines and AI tools can find and understand it.
The takeaway: a good-looking website tells you someone paid a designer. A company number that matches the register tells you who you are dealing with. Check the second one.
Sources
- The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015, regulation 25, read 3 November 2026.
- Companies House, Find and update company information.
- Whito studies linked above. Each states its method, sample and limits.
