No Credit - Your Name Worries Us

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One of our clients wondered what to make of it when a company name is spelt wrong. It’s a good point.

Not just wrong on the credit application form, but on the credit report too because it’s the way the company is incorporated at Companies House.

There are some words in English that often get misspelt and most of us get caught out or mistype occasionally. But there are times when you would think it matters to get it right, such as when naming a business. But a quick company search of our database lists companies proud to rule as ‘Brittania’, companies that are ‘Independant’, and companies that provide ‘Maintenence’ services. Quite a fewprovide ‘Acommodation’ but can’t find room for two ‘c’s. ‘Student Acommodation’ is especially popular.You couldn't make it up.

The lack of attention to detail, if the company name can be called a detail, would make me worry how the business was run generally.

Imagine getting an application for credit from a company selling office supplies, and their company name is something ‘Stationary’. I don't know about you, but I’d think that was a business that won’t go far. When we last came across a 'stationary' company a Helpdesk colleague recalled how his old school teacher explained how to get that one right: ‘The man who looks after the station, ‘arry, never goes anywhere.’

We don’t include spell checking in our own credit rating algorithms. Perhaps we should if we could demonstrate any correlation between misspelt company names and corporate failure. But in the absence of any empirical tests, it’s down to instinct and a credit check.
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