Company info look up - job related

[SlimChance]

Any tips on the best place to research some background info on a registered company ? I'm currently job hunting and I've had an email out of the blue from a company who have seen my CV on one of the major online job agencies.

I've done a bit of WHOIS look up based on the companies web site details and would now like to dig a bit deeper if only to have some background if I do get an interview. Happy to pay a few quid to get some reassurance they are legit !

[Eric Mc]

They are legit if thay exist as company registered at Companies House i.e. they are a legally set up company.

Have you confirmed this?

[SlimChance]

Thanks for the reply Eric. Yes, a quick Google has come up with a company number so in that sense they are legit. Ideally I'd like some kind of summary of their last years trading to get an idea of the size of the operation.

There seem to be a few companies on the web offering various bits of information regarding registered companies. I assume I'm looking for something along the lines of an annual return or annual accounts ?

[Eric Mc]

The good news is that all companies are required by law to file their annual accounts at Companies House. You can purchase a copy of the most recent set of accounts on file direct from Companies House for the princely sum of £1.00.

The bad news is that small companies (those with sales of less than £6.5 million or employing less than 50 staff or with net assets of less than £3.26 million) normally avail of the fact that they can file Abbreviated Accounts. These reduced disclosure accounts do not show a Profit and Loss account - only a Balance Sheet and other items which are required to be disclosed by law in the form of notes to the accounts.

Therefore, if the company you are interested in qualifies as a small company, you may not get the information you would like to see.

Edited by Eric Mc on Monday 6th December 19:02