™
What business
credit bureaux see.
Your company has a credit file of its own — separate from anything in your personal name. This guide explains who the UK business bureaux are, what feeds a company file, and why the company is assessed, never you personally.
When a lender, a supplier or an insurer wants to gauge a company, they often look at its business credit file — a record held not in any person's name, but in the name of the company itself. Understanding what sits in that file, and where it comes from, takes the mystery out of how your business is seen.
Creditcorp is the growing name for the Credicorp group, and Credicorp Limited is the lender behind it. This page is a plain-English guide to the UK business credit bureaux and the company file they build — general information, not an application and not advice. When you are ready, applying happens on the lender's own site, credicorp.co.uk.
The borrower is the company — a UK private limited company (Ltd), LLP or PLC — not the director who signs. The assessment rests on the company's own business credit standing, not a director's personal file: no personal credit check on a director, and no personal guarantee. This is not consumer lending or sole-trader finance.
Who the business bureaux are
A handful of independent agencies hold and rate UK company data.
A business credit-reference agency, or bureau, collects information about companies and turns it into a report — usually with a score or rating that sums up how the company manages credit. The main agencies operating in the UK include Experian, Equifax, Creditsafe and Dun & Bradstreet. They are independent businesses, not part of any one lender, and they sell access to their reports to firms that want to assess a company before trading with it or lending to it.
Because each bureau gathers its data and works out its score in its own way, the same company can show a slightly different rating from one agency to the next. There is no single, official business credit score — only the picture each bureau builds. A company can usually request its own report from any of them and check what is held.
What feeds a company credit file
A business file is built from public and commercial data about the company — not a director's household.
- Companies House filings: the company's accounts, confirmation statement, registered office and officer details — the public record of the business.
- Public legal records: any County Court Judgments (CCJs) registered against the company, and similar court or insolvency markers.
- Payment behaviour: how the company settles its trade accounts and credit commitments, where suppliers and lenders share that data with the bureaux.
- Age and structure: how long the company has traded, its size, sector and group relationships.
- Industry signals: sector-level risk patterns the bureau folds into its model.
Why the company file is separate from yours
A company is its own legal person, so it carries its own credit identity — distinct from any director.
The company file
- Held under the company name and registration number, as a separate legal person.
- Built from Companies House data, CCJs and trade payment behaviour — business-level information.
- Read by lenders, suppliers and insurers deciding whether to extend credit to the business.
- This is what Credicorp looks at: the company's own standing, with no personal guarantee from a director.
A director's personal file
- Held in the individual's own name, governed by the consumer-credit regime.
- Built from personal accounts — cards, mortgages, household credit and the electoral roll.
- Read for personal borrowing the individual takes out themselves.
- Not checked by Credicorp for this lending — the company is the only borrower.
One thing about sole traders
The clean split between company and personal only holds for an incorporated business. A sole trader is not a separate legal person from the individual running it, so there is no distinct company file and the line between business and personal blurs — which is one reason Credicorp lends to bodies corporate only: UK limited companies, LLPs and PLCs. If your business is incorporated, it has its own credit identity, and that is what is assessed. The lending and regulation page explains where that line sits.
Business credit file questions
The questions directors ask most. For anything specific to your business, the lender's team are at credicorp.co.uk.
Who are the UK business credit bureaux?
The main business credit-reference agencies operating in the UK include Experian, Equifax, Creditsafe and Dun & Bradstreet. Each holds information on companies and publishes a business credit report and a score or rating that lenders, suppliers and insurers may look at. They are independent of any one lender, and each compiles its file in its own way, so a company can show a slightly different score at different bureaux.
What feeds a company credit file?
Mostly public and commercial data about the company itself — Companies House records such as accounts, the confirmation statement and registered details; any County Court Judgments against the company; payment behaviour reported by suppliers and lenders; the age and structure of the business; and industry signals. It is built from how the company conducts itself, not from a director's household bills.
Is a company credit file the same as my personal one?
No. A company is a separate legal person from its directors, so a UK limited company has its own credit file held under the company name and number, entirely distinct from any director's personal consumer credit file. They are compiled from different data, governed by different rules, and read for different purposes.
Does Credicorp check my personal credit file?
No personal credit check is run on a director for this lending. The assessment is of the company — its trading and its business credit standing — not of a director's own consumer file. There is no personal guarantee, so the company is the only borrower.
How can a director improve the company credit file?
In general terms: file accounts and the confirmation statement on time at Companies House, keep registered details current, pay suppliers and any commitments to terms, and clear any County Court Judgments. The bureaux set their own methods and you would check your company report with them directly — this page is general information, not advice.
Where to go next
To see how a clear company picture turns into a lending decision, read how affordability is assessed, and to understand why the company alone carries the obligation, see no personal guarantee — what it means. The business finance jargon buster defines the terms behind a company file, the products page sets out all three Credicorp products, and the whole series sits on the Learn hub. There is even-handed background for the group on creditcorpgroup.co.uk.
Ready when you are
Applying, drawing down and managing your account all happen on the lender's site, credicorp.co.uk.