Should I trust this company?

chile_paul

We're currently looking for an architect to help us to plan and design a small extension on our property.

We've found a company via a link on our local council's planning department website, however my suspicions have been sparked when the email that they sent me to confirm our initial appointment had a different company name and branding than the one from their original website and different from that listed on the council website.

I've done a little more digging on Companies House and found 4 different companies listed that the person that I'm talking to is associated with, all with very similar names:

- One of them was incorporated in May 2012 and is showing as Accounts being Overdue. The person I'm talking to is listed as a Director
- One was incorporated in May 2016, the person I am talking to was a Director but resigned as Director in August 2016
- One was incorporated in Aug 2012 but dissolved in March 2013 (voluntary strike off?)
- One that was incorporated in Feb 2016 (appears to be the new company?). The person I'm talking to is listed as director.

Am I right to be suspicious of this, or is it perfectly normal?

In general, what else should I be doing to check that this is all legitimate?

steampowered

It is quite common for people to be directors of multiple companies and for some of those companies to be inactive.

It sounds like you'd be contracting with the new company. Of course the new company may not have any assets. So if you want to be protected in case of negligence by the architect you'd need to check that he has insurance.

neilmcl

If you got the details from the local council panning dept. website why not give them a call and outline your concerns. I've always found mine more than helpful.

alumende27

Ask them for references from satisfied customers.

Check http://www.arb.org.uk/-search-the-register

Don't use a trader you're not confident about.

Try and find someone that is recommended to you (and make sure the recommendation is based on their work, and not the fact they were a good shag, which the woman at work forgot to mention to me when recommending a decorator...)