Most businesses skip due diligence until something goes wrong. Then they do it very thoroughly, in hindsight, while talking to a solicitor.
Here’s a 5-minute checklist that catches the most common red flags before you sign anything:
1. Confirm the company actually exists (60 seconds)
Search Companies House. Check the registered number matches what they gave you. Sounds obvious — you’d be surprised how often the name on a contract belongs to a dissolved entity.
2. Check company status and age (60 seconds)
Active or dissolved? Incorporated six weeks ago? A brand-new company asking for 90-day payment terms is a different conversation than one with eight years of trading history.
3. Look at the filing history (90 seconds)
Are accounts overdue? Have they filed dormant accounts while claiming to be a thriving business? Gaps in filing history are often gaps in honesty.
4. Check the directors (60 seconds)
How many directorships does this person hold? Are any of their other companies dissolved or in liquidation? One dissolved company — fine. A pattern of them — not fine.
5. Scan for charges and county court judgments (60 seconds)
Outstanding charges against assets can mean someone else gets paid before you do. Always worth knowing.
That’s it. Five minutes. Costs nothing. Potentially saves you from a very expensive lesson about due diligence.
Borsch.ai pulls all of this into a single company view — no tab-switching, no manual cross-referencing, no excuses for skipping it.
Check any UK company in seconds at https://borsch.ai
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