How to verify a UK influencer agency using Companies House, IPA and PRCA records

What to take away

What Companies House filings prove about a UK agency

Start with the register. Every UK limited company, including an influencer marketing agency, files accounts, a confirmation statement and notices of directors and shareholders under the Companies Act 2006. The register is free, public and searchable by anyone.

What you get is identity and compliance. The company number, registered office, incorporation date, filing deadlines and any late filing penalties. You learn whether the agency is a live private limited company or a trading name with no company behind it.

What you do not get is capability. Filings do not show campaign results, client retention, staff numbers or whether the agency pays its freelancers on time. Treat the register as the floor of your checks, not the ceiling.

Two patterns matter at this stage. A registered office that is an accountant's address is normal for small agencies. A registered office that changes every few months, alongside a director who resigns and reappears, is worth a question before you shortlist.

If the agency is a sole trader or a partnership, there may be no company record at all. That is lawful, but it means you cannot run the same checks. Ask for trading accounts and a VAT registration instead, and say so in writing.

This first pass fits inside a wider selection checklist that stops on the first failed mandatory gate, so decide now which failures end the process and which just need an explanation.

Filtering agency and brand records with advanced search

A name search returns noise: similarly named agencies, holding companies, dissolved shells. Use the Advanced company search on the Companies House service to filter by incorporation date, SIC code, company status and location.

SIC codes are blunt. Advertising agencies sit under code 73110, public relations under 70210. An influencer agency may file under either, or under a general business code. Search both, then check the nature of business line in the accounts.

Filter by status first. Active companies only, unless you are deliberately looking for history. Then narrow by incorporation date: an agency trading since 2015 has a filing trail you can read, while one incorporated last month has almost none.

Location filters help with regional work. If you need an agency with a physical base in Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds or Cardiff, check whether the registered office matches where the team actually works. A London registered office with a Leeds delivery team is common and not a problem, as long as you know.

Run the same filters on your own brand's name. You will see how the agency's records compare with yours, and you will spot any group company or trading subsidiary that should be named in the contract.

Keep a dated screenshot of each search. Filings change, and a procurement file that shows what you saw on the day is far stronger than a note saying the checks were done.

Checking dissolved companies and struck-off names

The live register hides failures. A company that stopped filing, was struck off and then reappeared under a new name leaves a trail in the dissolved company search, which covers companies dissolved in the last 20 years.

Search the agency's current name, its previous names and the names of its directors. If the same people ran a company that was dissolved with outstanding accounts, ask what happened. Voluntary dissolution after a clean wind-down is unremarkable. Compulsory strike-off for non-filing is a different story.

Watch for phoenix patterns: a dissolved company, a new company incorporated within weeks, the same directors and the same trading address. That structure can be legitimate, but it can also be a way to leave creditors, freelancers or clients behind.

Check whether the dissolved entity held client money or ran campaigns that were never delivered. Complaints do not appear on the register, but a dissolved company with an unsatisfied judgment is a matter of public record elsewhere.

Record what you find, with the company number and dissolution date, in the same dossier as the live filings. Procurement teams that skip this step are the ones surprised by a name change mid-contract.

If the agency has never had a company record, say so plainly in your file. Absence of a dissolved company is not the same as evidence of good conduct, and your dossier should distinguish between the two.

Reading IPA and PRCA membership lists correctly

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and the Public Relations and Communications Association both publish member directories. These are useful, but they confirm membership, not quality.

Check the IPA member agencies list for the agency's exact legal name, not its trading name. Membership sits with the company, and agencies sometimes trade under a brand that differs from the registered entity. If the name is missing, ask which entity holds the membership.

IPA membership brings a code of practice and access to industry guidance, including on advertising standards. It does not audit an agency's campaigns, and it does not guarantee that every person working on your account is qualified.

PRCA membership works similarly. The PRCA covers public relations and communications, and many influencer agencies sit in that space. Check the directory for the agency and, where possible, for the named account lead.

Membership can lapse. A directory entry is a snapshot, so confirm the current status in writing and keep the confirmation. An agency that was a member in 2023 but is not listed now should explain the change.

Neither body replaces your own checks. Use membership as one line in the dossier, alongside the filing history, the ownership check and the references. A missing membership is not disqualifying; a false claim of membership is.

People with significant control and director checks

Ownership decides who can change your contract terms, sell the agency or walk away with the client list. The People with significant control register shows who owns or controls more than 25 per cent of the company's shares or voting rights.

Read the PSC entry for each shortlisted agency. You want names, the nature of control and the date the entry was updated. If the PSC is a foreign company, trace it one layer further before you sign.

Then check the directors. Look at how long each has been in post, how many other companies they run, and whether any of those companies are dissolved or in liquidation. Multiple directorships are normal in agency land. A director with a trail of failed companies needs a direct question.

Check the filing history for late accounts and confirmation statements. One late filing happens. A pattern of late filings across several years suggests weak administration, which often shows up in invoicing and reporting too.

Confirm who signs. The person negotiating may not be a director or authorised signatory. Ask for the name and role of the signatory, and match it to the register before the contract goes to legal.

This is the same discipline set out in our guide to due diligence on an influencer-agency vendor, from data provenance to a tested exit, and it applies whether the agency is two people or two hundred.

Running a dated client reference check

References are the only part of the dossier that speaks to delivery. Run them yourself, by voice or video, and date every conversation.

Ask each referee the same questions in the same order, so answers can be compared. Record the date, the referee's name and role, the campaign, and whether they would re-appoint. A dated client reference check is one you can defend a year later.

Use this sequence:

Score each reference against the same criteria: delivery, communication, commercial discipline, and whether the referee would re-appoint. Two strong references and one refusal to engage is a mixed result, not a pass.

For regulated categories, add a check on the agency's grasp of the rules. Alcohol, gambling, cosmetics and food campaigns sit under the CAP Code enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority, and the CMA has published guidance on influencer disclosures. Ask referees whether the agency flagged disclosure requirements before creative was signed off.

If the campaign involved gifted products, ask how VAT and benefit-in-kind treatment was handled with HMRC. If it involved personal data, ask how consent and retention were managed under UK GDPR and the ICO's rules. Agencies that have done this before will answer without hesitation.

Scoring the dossier before you appoint

By now you should have filings, search results, membership confirmations, ownership records and dated references. Turn them into a score before anyone books a kick-off meeting.

Use a simple gate-and-score model. Mandatory gates must pass or the agency is out: a live company record, a named signatory who matches the register, confirmed membership claims, and at least two dated references that would re-appoint.

Then score the rest out of ten on filing punctuality, ownership clarity, reference depth, category compliance knowledge and commercial transparency. Weight the references highest, because they are the only evidence of delivery.

Keep this checklist with the dossier:

Worked example. A brand team shortlists two agencies for a spring campaign. Agency A has filed on time since 2016, one PSC, IPA membership under its legal name, and three referees who all re-appoint.

Agency B was incorporated in 2024. It has a director linked to a company dissolved with outstanding accounts, and it claims PRCA membership that the directory does not show. It provides two referees, one of whom declines a call. Agency A passes the gates. Agency B fails three, and the team stops rather than negotiating.

This is the discipline behind evidence gates for entering any agency relationship, from identity to exit, and it applies to your own procurement record as much as to the agency.

When you compare shortlisted agencies side by side, keep the comparison on evidence. Our note on researching rival agencies without mistaking identity for capability explains why a strong register entry and a glossy deck are not the same thing.

Finally, write the decision down. Name the gates, the scores, the referees and the date. If the answer is no, say no once, in writing, and keep the dossier.

If it is yes, the same file becomes your baseline for the annual review, and any influencer-agency review stays on hold until a dossier and a common test exist. Build both now, while the records are fresh and the referees still remember the campaign.

Common questions