What our customers have to say

“Company Check allows us to quickly change credit terms to work with our customers. The loyalty this creates is amazing.”

Thanks to its Pro membership, the engineering supply chain firm Metals Direct has grown its business and protected itself from bad debts in a high-risk, tight-knit industry.

The East Anglian company, which specialises in sourcing rare and cutting-edge alloys and plastics for anything from F1 cars to nuclear power stations, uses Company Check daily to help it set the right credit terms for each customer it works with.

From vetting and validating companies or directors before taking on new jobs to prospecting for clients, the website has become an integral part of the firm’s sales team, says Metals Direct’s Stuart Precious.

“We work with clients in many different industries, from automotive to food and drink, oil and gas and renewables. Our customers use us because they know we’ll help them with anything, from racing car brake liners to reverse engineering decades-old products, but with this flexibility comes added risk for us.

“Because of the nature of our business we have to accept that there will be some bad debts, but the last thing we want to do is burn bridges. In our industry word gets around, but Company Check helps us work with our customers and lets us know when to change credit terms to suit their changing circumstances. The loyalty and honesty this garners is amazing.

“You can build a really good website and hide a really bad company behind it, but assets can’t lie. The information we can see - trading history, how things are financed, trading returns and so on - lets us set the right terms for each job we do, from pro-forma invoices for higher risk jobs to 60 days terms for longstanding, secure relationships.

“Access to up-to-date accounts is available through the dashboard at the click of a mouse. That lets me check out prospective businesses we might be working with and has saved us on multiple occasions from working with companies when bold claims haven’t matched the figures.”

Metals Direct was founded by metals expert Lennie Gent. It will celebrate 10 years of trading in 2018.

“Company Check is an essential part of our business strategy”

Online retailer The Paperbox has used Company Check to help it achieve financially sustainable, double-digit growth in turnover every year since 2013.

By using the full range of tools, reports and alerts that are available to Pro account subscribers, the Yorkshire-based wedding stationery supplier is able to operate completely debt-free with suppliers and customers; using effective due diligence to build its business.

Financial prudence through features like company and director monitoring and checking for credit rating changes has not just helped the firm achieved an enviable credit score (80 out of 100 at the last count) - it’s also protected it from bad debtors time and again, as co-founder and operations director Ray Calland-Scoble explains.

“We supply retailers and wholesalers and buy from suppliers large and small, so it’s really important for us to check out who we’re working with. It’s also important that we do this regularly, because fortunes can change quickly.

“Company Check is an essential part of our business strategy. It gives us confidence in the companies we deal with, and in turn gives them and other prospective companies extra confidence in us. I use it at least twice a week and it plays a big part in the decisions we make. For example, it’s warned us on numerous occasions when other firms’ credit ratings have worsened, allowing us to take precautions to limit our exposure.

“The email alerts feature notifies me of any updates to the few dozen firms I’m following, while the director search function shows me which of the business owners I meet are just talking the talk, and which are really walking the walk.

“It plays a big part in the wider approach we take. Nothing leaves our premises, or enters them, without being paid for upfront. We don’t operate credit accounts, so we can be sure we’re working with people who do business like we do. Like finds like, and although our approach might be unusual, we don’t spend days chasing late payments and we certainly sleep a lot better at night!”

The Paperbox team has used the profits from its recent growth to build new headquarters, near York. The ecommerce business is on track to increase its turnover by a further 25% this year, growing its market share in the UK and Ireland.