Last Updated on September 24, 2026
A logo on a hoarding is not a company. Before you sign, find the legal entity behind the brand and spend ten minutes on its public record. Every check below is free.
The mistake
Most people check the name they can see. That is usually a brand, a group or a joint venture.
None of those signs a contract on its own. A registered company does. On HS2, for example, the main civil works are split between four joint ventures, and we found no registered company for any of them. See the legal name is not the name on the hoarding.
So the principle is simple. Check the company that signs, not the name you see.
1. Get the legal name and company number in writing
Ask for the exact legal name and Companies House number. It should match the name on the contract, the invoice and the insurance certificate.
If a firm cannot give you a number, or gives you one that does not match, stop there.
2. Look the company up at Companies House
The search is free. GOV.UK says you can see, at no cost:
- company information, such as registered address and date of incorporation
- current and resigned officers
- document images
- mortgage charge data
- previous company names
- insolvency information
Check the status says Active. Note any previous names, because press coverage and old contracts may use them.
3. Read the filing history, not just the summary
The overview page shows when accounts and the confirmation statement are due. The filing history shows what has actually been filed.
They do not always agree. When we rechecked National Grid Electricity Transmission on 23 September 2026, the overview still showed statements as due while the filing history listed them as filed. Read both.
A late filing is a question to ask the firm. It is not a verdict on its finances.
4. Check charges, insolvency and ownership
Charges show whether lenders hold security over the company’s assets. The insolvency section shows any formal insolvency process.
Then look at who owns it. Big contractors often trade through a subsidiary. The subsidiary’s own accounts are the ones that matter for your contract. If the subsidiary is small next to the job, ask whether a parent company guarantee is on offer.
5. Check the health and safety record
The Health and Safety Executive publishes a register of improvement and prohibition notices. You can search all notices, or improvement and prohibition notices separately.
HSE says notices are published on the register five weeks after they are served and stay there for five years. It is also running a temporary register while it updates the main one, so you may need to check both. Northern Ireland has its own register.
6. Ask for one named job you can check
Ask for one piece of named work, with a public page you can read. A council, a regulator or the client should be able to confirm it.
Capability statements such as “we deliver schemes of any size” tell you nothing. Our infrastructure directory lists one named, sourced job for every firm it includes, for this reason.
If the job is through a joint venture
Check every member company, not the joint venture name. Each member is usually a separate registered company with its own accounts and its own record.
What Whito does not do
We do not rank contractors, sell introductions or run credit checks. A Whito listing is not a recommendation or a prequalification.
Takeaway: check the number, not the logo.
If an AI assistant gave you the firm’s name, run this check before you use it. Of 108 names three engines gave for UK infrastructure on 24 September 2026, 31 were the name of an active company that does that work: what we found.
Method. Official pages only: GOV.UK, Companies House, the Health and Safety Executive and HS2 Ltd. Each read on 23 September 2026. The National Grid example comes from our own recheck that day.
Limits. These checks show what a company has filed and what regulators have published. They do not show the quality of its work, its insurance cover or its full financial position. This is not legal or financial advice.
Sources, each read on 23 September 2026: GOV.UK, get information about a company, updated 11 September 2026 · HSE, find an improvement or prohibition notice, updated 8 September 2026 · HSE public register of enforcement notices · HS2 Ltd, 31 July 2026 · Companies House
If a fact here is wrong, tell us and we will check it against the source. Corrections, right of reply and removals: whito.co.uk/corrections/.
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