Use VATFind for company discovery and HMRC’s official checker for UK VAT registration validation.
If you have a name but no number
Search VATFind using the legal company name and United Kingdom as the country. Compare the registration number and address before taking a VAT number from the result.
The official UK checker requires the VAT number itself; it does not support a search by business name.
GOV.UK: Before you startUse the official checker
Once you have the number, open GOV.UK’s Check a UK VAT number service. It checks validity and the associated business name and address. UK VAT-registered businesses can also provide their own number to obtain proof of when they checked.
Open the official service directly and follow its current instructions. VATFind does not submit this authority check on your behalf in the current version.
Open the official UK VAT checkerCompare the returned entity
Put the authority result beside your supplier document and the company record. Check that you are looking at the same legal entity, not a similarly named business or a different company in the same group.
An unexpected name or address deserves follow-up. Ask the supplier to explain the mismatch and provide current supporting information instead of silently replacing their details.
Keep lookup and validation records separate
Record where each result came from and when you obtained it. A VATFind result is company information from Global Database. An official checker result is a separate source for the registration question.
The word Active in a company record does not establish that its VAT registration is active. VATFind shows tax registration as Not supplied by Global Database unless its response explicitly provides that result.
This is an explanation of the lookup process, not tax or legal advice. Official services and requirements can change. Consult the linked authority for the current position.