How to verify a UK event marketing agency with Companies House and contract checks

What to take away

Why Companies House is the first stop, not the last

Most UK buyers treat company verification as a formality at the end. It should be the opening move. Companies House - GOV.UK holds the statutory record of every limited company trading as an event marketing agency, and the register is free to search. Start there before you read a single case study.

A company can look established on its website and still be newly incorporated, dormant or overdue on accounts. The register shows incorporation date, registered office, directors, filing history and any insolvency notices. That is enough to rule an agency in or out before you spend time on a pitch.

Use the register to confirm the legal entity you will actually pay. Trading names and group brands often sit under a different company number from the one on the invoice. If the pitch names one entity and the contract names another, stop and ask why.

Companies House also shows whether directors hold other appointments. A director with a trail of dissolved event companies is worth a question, not necessarily a rejection. Context matters: serial entrepreneurs and serial failures look different once you read the filing history.

For public sector buyers, the same check feeds your procurement record. Private buyers should treat it as basic hygiene. Either way, this is the cheapest hour you will spend on vendor due diligence.

Reading filings, accounts and confirmation statements

Once you have the company number, work through the filing history in date order. You are looking for stability, not perfection. A small agency with steady filings is a lower risk than a larger one with gaps.

The accounts tell you scale and solvency. Micro-entity accounts show little detail but confirm the company is trading. Full accounts show turnover, fixed assets and creditors. Compare the last two or three years to see direction of travel.

The filing labels do much of the work. An entry for dormant company accounts means the directors declared no significant accounting transactions for that period, and the accounts will carry no trading figures. That is not automatically a problem, but it does not fit a pitch about running live events.

Confirmation statements are the annual check that directors, shareholders and registered office are current. A confirmation statement filed on time is a good sign. Repeated late filing is a pattern, and patterns matter more than single events.

Check the registered office address. An accountancy firm or virtual office is normal for small agencies. A residential address used by hundreds of companies is a prompt to ask where the team actually works.

Look at charges and insolvency history. A registered charge means secured lending, which is common and not alarming. An administration notice or a striking-off application is a different matter and needs explanation before you commit budget.

Directors and people with significant control are listed too. If the person pitching is not a director and holds no control, ask who signs the contract and who carries the liability. This is where a commercial conversation starts.

Keep a dated print or PDF of each filing you rely on. Your procurement file should show what you checked and when. If the agency's status changes later, you have evidence of the position at the time of signing.

Named contract clauses to check before signing

Agencies sell ideas; contracts decide what happens when the idea slips. Read the clauses below by name, not as a block of terms. Each one maps to a real failure mode in UK event work.

Scope and deliverables. The statement of work should name outputs, formats, quantities and dates. "Creative support" is not a deliverable. A usable clause reads: "two 6m by 3m stands, installed and dismantled at the venue, with 40 hours of on-site crew time". If the scope is vague, the change request will be expensive.

Fees, VAT and payment. Confirm whether fees are exclusive of VAT, when invoices fall due and what happens on late payment. HMRC rules on VAT for event services apply to UK suppliers, so the contract should state the VAT position clearly.

Intellectual property and licensing. Decide who owns the creative, the data and the event assets after the campaign. Agencies often retain ownership and grant a licence. Check the licence covers the territories and channels you need.

Cancellation, postponement and force majeure. Event work is exposed to venue changes, weather and public health disruption. The clause should set notice periods, refunds and cost caps for both sides.

Data protection. Any agency handling delegate or attendee data needs UK GDPR wording: controller and processor roles, lawful basis, retention, sub-processors and breach notification. The ICO sets out the standard obligations in its UK GDPR guidance and resources | ICO, and your contract should reflect them rather than promise vague "best practice".

Indemnity and liability. Check the cap, what it excludes and whether indemnities are mutual. An unlimited indemnity from a small agency is often worthless, and an unlimited indemnity you give away can be dangerous.

Termination and exit. You need the right to end for convenience or breach, plus a handover of assets, data and accounts. Exit terms decide how painful the ending is.

Confidentiality and publicity. Confirm who can announce the partnership and when. Agencies often want case study rights; agree the approval process in advance.

These clauses also sit inside wider commercial contracts, and consumer-facing promotions add another layer. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 strengthens consumer protection and gives the CMA sharper enforcement tools, so unfair terms and misleading pricing claims carry more risk than they did.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 still bite on agency claims made to buyers and to consumers. A pitch that overstates results can become a regulatory problem, not just a commercial dispute. Contract wording should match what the agency can actually evidence.

Review sources and how to weigh them

Reviews are useful when you know where they come from. They are noise when you do not. Sort them into three buckets: verified client references, public directories and trade recognition.

Verified references are the strongest. Ask for two clients from the last twelve months with similar budgets and formats, then call them. Ask what went wrong, not just what went well. The answer tells you more than the rating.

Public directories vary in quality. Some verify invoices, some do not. Check the method before you trust the score.

Trade bodies and awards add context. Membership of the IPA, PRCA, AEO or AEV signals some professional commitment, but it is not a guarantee of delivery. Treat it as one input among several.

Be careful with anonymous agency reviews. A burst of five-star ratings in one week, with no project detail, is a pattern worth ignoring. So is a single angry review with no right of reply.

Cross-check review claims against public data. If an agency claims a large event programme, the ONS business and tourism data can help you sanity-check market size and seasonality. Numbers that do not fit the market deserve a question.

Finally, ask for the review source behind any award shortlist.

Red flags in agency status and terms

Most problems announce themselves early. The skill is noticing them while you still have options. Below are the patterns that should slow a UK buyer down.

Status red flags are about the company, not the work. Late filings, dormant accounts and frequent director changes suggest instability. They may have innocent explanations, but you should hear them from the agency, not discover them yourself.

Terms red flags are about risk transfer. Vague scope, uncapped liability, one-sided cancellation and silent data handling all push risk onto you. A good agency will negotiate these openly.

Review red flags are about evidence. Claims that cannot be traced to a named client, a dated case study or a published method are marketing, not proof. Ask for the underlying source.

There is also a conduct dimension. The ASA and the CAP Code govern advertising claims in the UK, including claims made in B2B marketing. An agency that ignores the code in its own promotion may ignore it in yours.

One red flag alone rarely kills a deal. Three together usually should. Write down what you found, date it, and share it with the agency. Their response is part of the assessment.

A due diligence sequence for UK buyers

Run the checks in order. Each step is cheap and rules out work later.

The signing sequence should be written into your procurement plan, with named owners and dates.

Set a review date for the relationship, not just the contract. A six-month check on filings, delivery and data handling catches drift before renewal. Agencies change; your file should change with them.

For larger programmes, run the same sequence on sub-contractors the agency plans to use. Venues, AV suppliers and data platforms all carry risk. The agency should disclose them before signature, not after. A structured supplier comparison keeps those sub-contractors on the same evidence base as the lead agency.

Keep the evidence together: company number, filing dates, reference notes, contract version and data schedule. If a dispute arises, that file is your position. Buyers who shortlist on best providers still need this file before signature.

Common questions