Now live — England & Wales
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A business history checkWhat to look for when buying a pub, café or small business
Public records checked before you pay a solicitor or put money down.
Paste the advert, or just search by name, and get a same-day red, amber and green report on insolvency history, the licence, hygiene, the lease and whether the advert stacks up.
No advert? Heard it's for sale, or just want to check one out? Search by name.
Site won't share its link? Paste the advert text or a screenshot.
Start with a free "advert gaps" list. Full public-record report £79 · Most back within 1 hour once started.
- Public records only
- Every fact linked to its source
- Nobody is contacted
The Example Arms, Anytown
- Previous operator in liquidationRED
- Lease shorter than advertisedRED
- Takings differ across listingsAMBER
- Food hygiene rating on recordGREEN
- Land Registry title (prepared, not bought)NOT RUN
- Official public registers
- A source link for every fact
- Same-day delivery
- Reviewed by a person before it's sent
How it works
Three steps, the same as a car history check. The difference is that most adverts hide the business name, so we work that out first.
Paste the advert
Drop in the link from any business-for-sale site, or type the business name with whatever you know: street, town or a landmark. We find the exact premises and postcode for you to confirm. A particulars PDF works too.
We identify the business
If the advert hides the name, we match it from cross-listings, photos and registers, and tell you how sure we are before you pay for the full report.
Get your report the same day
A red, amber and green verdict, a sourced finding for each check, and polite questions for you to put to the agent.
What we check
The things that go wrong in small business sales, checked against public records for England and Wales.
Company and directors
Status, filings, accounts type, charges, officers and their other companies.
Insolvency and phoenix patterns
Earlier operators that failed, liquidators' reports, and sales to connected companies.
Gazette notices
Winding-up petitions, liquidator appointments and strike-off notices.
Premises licence
Holder, supervisor, hours and every condition, checked against how the venue trades.
Food hygiene
Rating, inspection date and the business name on record.
Business rates
Rateable value and history, and whether relief claims in the advert hold up.
Lease arithmetic
Years left worked out from the start date and term, plus rent reviews due soon.
Property and landlord
Landlord's published accounts, community asset listing, planning, and which titles to buy.
Reviews and trend
Ratings, counts, recurring complaints, and whether recent reviews are getting worse.
Social media
Activity and engagement, only from pages we can match to the venue.
The advert's figures
Takings, price and rent compared across every listing and press story.
Local competition
Comparable venues nearby, with hygiene ratings and reviews.
A clear verdict up front, with the evidence underneath
Every report opens with a plain-English verdict and the one thing to do next. Then each check gets a rating and a linked source.
- RED: contradicts the advert, or a serious legal or financial risk
- AMBER: unverified, missing, or a commercial concern
- GREEN: public record checked and clean
- GREY: register temporarily offline (sent to follow automatically), login-walled, or a paid search prepared but not bought
Verdict
The company that ran the pub until last year went into liquidation, and the business was then sold to a connected company. The lease also has about 3 years less to run than the advert says.
Next step: don't offer until the agent confirms in writing who owns the assets, the lease and the licence.
● Rating: RED- Companies HouseRED
- Premises licenceAMBER
- Gazette (current operator)GREEN
Simple pricing
Start free. Pay for the full report only once we've identified the business.
Advert gaps
- Missing rent, term, profit, licence
- Questions to ask the agent
- Is the name hidden?
Business history report
- RAG verdict and summary table
- Every check on this page
- Linked sources
- Questions for the agent
3-pack
- Three business history reports
- Side-by-side comparison
Full buyer pack
- The full report
- Crime, Home Office, tribunal & enforcement checks
- Review of the seller's documents (lease, accounts, contracts)
- Deal checklist with chase dates & solicitor note
For agents
- Day-one Pre-Marketing Seller Checks
- Buyer Referral & Monthly Partner accounts
- White-label option & outage follow-on updates
We are not currently VAT-registered, so no VAT is added to the prices shown. HM Land Registry title fees are passed on at cost and only bought with your agreement.
Who it's for
For people buying pubs, cafés, shops and other small businesses.
Buyers
A bad deal can cost you your savings, and solicitor due diligence often runs to thousands. The report costs less than an hour of a solicitor's time, and tells you whether the deal is worth paying a solicitor for.
- First-time buyers without an adviser
- Shortlisting several adverts
- Checking an agent's claims before a viewing
Business transfer agents
Highlight the questions a buyer's solicitor will inevitably ask weeks into a sale so you can put them to the seller on day one. Most reports are back within 1 hour once started (up to 24 hours max), with automatic follow-on updates if any public register is temporarily offline so your instruction is never held up.
- Pay-as-you-go Trade Account for Pre-Marketing Seller Checks (fit into your vendor onboarding pack)
- Buyer Referral Partner option on public checks and Full Buyer Packs
- Monthly Agency Partner Plan for volume instructions with white-label cover option
Questions
Is this instant, like a car check?
Not yet. Most business adverts hide the name, so the valuable work is matching the advert to the real business and reading liquidators' reports and council registers. That takes research, so we promise the same day, not seconds.
Do you contact the seller or the agent?
No. We never call, email or message the seller, the agent, staff, the landlord or the council for you. We draft the questions; you decide whether to send them.
Is this legal or financial advice?
No. It's an information summary from public records. It isn't legal, financial, tax or valuation advice. Use it to decide what to ask, and what to send to your solicitor and accountant.
Can you verify the advertised takings?
Usually not from public records alone. We check whether the figures are consistent across listings, price cuts and any liquidator valuations, and list the private documents to ask for, such as VAT returns, till reports and bank statements.
What if you can't identify the business?
We tell you before you pay for the full report, with a confidence level. If we can't get to a reasonable match, you can choose a full refund or a free re-run (see our Refund Policy).
What does "not found" mean?
That we searched the register and found nothing. It never means "all clear". If a register was temporarily offline, the check is marked GREY (to follow) and we send an automatic follow-on update as soon as it is back online.
Do you buy Land Registry titles?
Only with your agreement. We tell you exactly which title to buy and why, and pass the official fee on at cost.
Where does it work?
England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland use different licensing and land registers, so coverage there is limited and we'll say so.
What about the directors' personal data?
Directors' names come from public registers but are still personal data. We keep only what the report needs, link to official notices rather than republishing them, and delete on a set schedule (see our Privacy Notice).
Got an advert open in another tab?
Paste it here and see what it leaves out.