Reviews
How to check a women founder funding agency on Companies House and the FCA register
Women entrepreneur grants checks start at Companies House, then the FCA Financial Services Register and the Insolvency Service. Here is what each record proves.
What to take away
- Before you pay a women entrepreneur grants agency, verify the legal entity, not the brand: the company number is the thread that runs through every check below.
- Companies House filings prove a company exists, who controls it and whether it files on time. They prove nothing about whether it can legally sell you a financial product.
- The FCA Financial Services Register is the only place that confirms authorisation status, and most grants agencies will not appear on it. That absence is normal, not automatically a red flag.
- Dissolved company searches show whether a near-identical name was struck off, which is a common pattern when a firm rebrands after complaints.
- No single record proves a funding agency will deliver. Treat each as one layer, and read the gaps in section seven before you sign anything.
What due diligence on a women founder funding agency can and cannot prove
A funding agency is usually a private limited company selling advice, application support or introductions. Some are brokers. Some are consultancies. A small number are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) because they arrange or promote investments.
Due diligence answers a narrow set of questions. Does the company exist at Companies House? Who controls it? Has it filed accounts on time? Has it been dissolved under another name? Is it authorised to do what it claims?
It does not answer the question you actually care about: will this agency win me money? No register records outcomes. A clean filing history sits alongside satisfied and dissatisfied clients with equal ease.
That distinction matters most for women founders weighing paid help against free routes. Innovate UK, Scottish Enterprise, Business Wales and Invest Northern Ireland all run support that costs nothing, so paid agencies compete on speed and application quality, not access.
This route is the same one used for vendor due diligence, applied to a firm rather than a supplier. Work through it before any money changes hands.
Why the company number matters more than the name
Brands change. Companies do not, unless the directors incorporate a new entity. Ask for the company number in writing, then check every record against that number rather than the trading name on the website.
Agencies that resist giving a company number are telling you something. So are agencies whose website names one company and whose invoice names another.
Step one: the Companies House alphabetical and name searches
Companies House - GOV.UK holds the register of company records and filing obligations for funding agencies, and it is free to search. Start there.
Companies House search steps
- Type exact trading name
- Note every near-match variation
- Open profile, copy company number
- Re-search by company number
- Check registered office vs invoice
Companies House is the registrar for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so a Scottish agency appears in the same search as a London one. A Scottish Enterprise funded adviser and a Birmingham consultancy are checked identically.
What the search results tell you at a glance
The results list shows company status, incorporation date and company type. Look for active status and a trading history long enough to match the agency's claims.
An agency claiming ten years of helping women founders, incorporated eighteen months ago, has some explaining to do. That is not proof of wrongdoing. It is a question worth asking before you pay a deposit.
Alphabetical search limits
The alphabetical search is a browsing tool, not an intelligence report. It will not tell you whether the agency has ever been the subject of a complaint or an enforcement action. It only tells you what has been filed.
Reading accounts filings, from abridged to full accounts
Accounts are the most underused part of Companies House. They are also the most revealing, because they show whether the business is solvent in practice, not just on paper.
Small companies can file abridged or full accounts, and the guidance on filing abridged or full accounts explains the difference. Abridged accounts carry less detail but still show the balance sheet.
What to look for in the numbers
What to look for in accounts
- Net assetsnegative is a warning
- Cash at banklow means fee-dependent
- Creditors due within a year
- Directors' loanshow it is financed
- Filing datesrepeated lateness
Micro-entity accounts are the thinnest version and often show only a balance sheet. If that is all you have, treat the accounts as a starting point rather than comfort.
Why filing history beats a glossy website
A firm that files on time, every time, is at least organised. An agency that misses deadlines while promising to manage yours is a mismatch you can see for free.
Check the filing history tab for any accounts or confirmation statements filed late. One late filing happens. A pattern does not.
People with significant control and director history checks
People with significant control records identify who owns or controls a company, and the guidance on people with significant control explains the thresholds. This is where you find out who is really behind the brand.
Tracing control and directors
- Read PSC register: over 25% control
- Read officer list alongside PSCs
- Click each director's other appointments
- Flag dissolved companies in same sector
- If PSC is a company, follow the chain
The PSC register lists individuals or entities with more than 25 per cent of shares or voting rights, or the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board. Read it alongside the officer list.
Reading director history properly
Click through each director's name to see their other appointments. A director with a string of dissolved companies in the same sector deserves a closer look.
Also note directors who resigned shortly before a company was struck off. Resignation is not evidence of anything on its own, but timing is information.
Corporate PSCs and offshore chains
If the PSC is a company rather than a person, follow the chain. A UK agency controlled by an entity registered abroad is harder to check, and you should say so when you weigh the risk.
This is the layer most funding agency reviews skip, because it takes ten minutes and no register flags it for you.
Step two: the FCA Financial Services Register and authorisation status
Use the FCA register search tool to check if a firm is authorised. This is the only definitive source on authorisation status in the UK, and it takes two minutes.
Is FCA authorisation needed?
Does the agency arrange or promote investments?
check the relevant FCA permission
absence from register is normal
Search the company name and the trading name. Then search the company number if the firm appears under a different name.
What authorisation actually covers
The FCA authorises firms for specific activities. A firm may be authorised for credit broking but not for arranging investments. Read the permissions, not just the status.
If an agency claims to help you raise equity under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme or Enterprise Investment Scheme and takes a fee for arranging investors, check whether it holds the relevant permission. Financial promotion rules are strict, and unauthorised promotion of investments is a criminal offence.
When an agency will not appear at all
Most grants consultancies are not authorised, because writing applications and giving general advice is not a regulated activity. Absence from the register is not proof of a problem.
It becomes a problem when the agency describes regulated activity, such as arranging investments or managing money, while sitting outside the register. That is the specific mismatch to look for.
Checking individuals as well as firms
The register also lists approved persons and appointed representatives. If a named adviser claims regulatory standing, search their name too, and check the firm they are linked to.
Step three: the Insolvency Service and dissolved company searches
A dissolved company no longer exists. Use the search for a dissolved company to spot struck-off agencies operating under a name close to the one you are considering.
This is the step that catches rebranding. A firm accumulates complaints, dissolves, and reappears with a new name, a new website and the same directors.
How to run the dissolved company search
Dissolved company search steps
- Search exact trading name
- Search each distinctive word separately
- Note dissolved firms with matching directors
- Cross-check registered office addresses
- Ask the agency about any match
The Insolvency Service also publishes information on bankruptcies and disqualifications, which matters if a director of your agency has been disqualified from acting as a company director.
What a clean result means
A clean dissolved search means no company with that name has been struck off. It does not mean the directors have never been involved in a failure under a different name. Only the director history check covers that.
What each record does not prove, and where the gaps sit
This is the section that matters most, because registers create false confidence.
What each record proves
Record
- Companies House
- Registered and filed
- PSC records
- Control on paper
- FCA authorisation
- Permission for activities
- Dissolved search
- A name was struck off
Proves
- Companies House
- Accuracy, outcomes
- PSC records
- Who really decides
- FCA authorisation
- Competence, fair pricing
- Dissolved search
- Same people behind new firm
Does not prove
- Companies House
- PSC records
- FCA authorisation
- Dissolved search
Companies House proves a company is registered and has filed what it is required to file. It does not verify the accuracy of what was filed, and it does not check trading standards, complaints or client outcomes.
PSC records prove who controls the company on paper. They do not prove who makes the decisions, who answers the phone, or whether the named controller is a nominee.
FCA authorisation proves a firm holds permission for specific regulated activities. It does not prove competence, fair pricing or good advice, and it does not cover unregulated grants advice at all.
A dissolved company search proves a name was struck off. It does not prove the same people are behind the new firm, only that the pattern is worth asking about.
No register records how many women actually received funding through an agency. Outcome claims are marketing until you see evidence, which is where a review methodology helps you weigh what can and cannot be verified.
The gaps you have to close yourself
- Ask for two client references from the last twelve months and call them.
- Ask what happens to your fee if the application fails.
- Ask for the complaints procedure in writing.
- Check whether the agency is a member of any trade body, and whether that body has a code.
- Read the contract for auto-renewal and notice periods.
Regional support worth checking first
Before paying anyone, check the free routes. British Business Bank runs finance information for smaller businesses. Innovate UK funds innovation grants directly. Scottish Enterprise, Business Wales, Invest Northern Ireland and the Women's Enterprise Hub in the West Midlands all offer funded support.
If a paid agency offers something these bodies already provide free, the fee buys speed, not access. That may still be worth it, but price it honestly.
A due diligence checklist for women entrepreneur grants agencies
Work through this before signing, and keep the evidence in one folder.
Due diligence checklist
- Company number matched to invoice name
- Active status and plausible trading history
- Accounts reviewed for net assets and cash
- Filing history checked for late filings
- PSC records read and owners traced
- FCA register and dissolved search run
- Two recent client references called
- Company number obtained in writing and matched to the invoice name
- Companies House profile shows active status and a plausible trading history
- Accounts reviewed for net assets, cash and near-term creditors
- Filing history checked for repeated late filings
- People with significant control records read and any corporate owner traced
- Each director's other appointments reviewed for dissolved companies
- FCA register searched for the firm, trading name and named advisers
- Dissolved company search run on the name and on each distinctive word
- Insolvency Service disqualification records checked for the directors
- Two recent client references taken and called
- Refund and cancellation terms confirmed in writing
- Free alternatives checked with British Business Bank, Innovate UK and the devolved agencies
Use this alongside a broader selection checklist when you compare more than one agency, and score each one the same way.
A worked example
A West Yorkshire founder is quoted four thousand pounds by an agency promising grant success. The Companies House profile shows incorporation two years ago, micro-entity accounts with negative net assets, and one PSC who is also the sole director.
The director's history shows two previous companies in the same sector, both dissolved. The FCA register shows no authorisation, which is fine, because the agency only writes applications. The dissolved search returns a company with a near-identical name, struck off three years ago, same registered office.
Nothing here is illegal. Together, it justifies asking three questions: why the previous companies closed, whether the same team is involved, and what happens to the fee if the application fails. The answers decide the engagement.
