Filed under methods

Research desk

Companies House. Who runs a company, who controls it and what it has filed. Free. About twelve seconds.
The Land Registry. Who owns a building or a piece of land. Seven pounds a title. About four minutes.
The Gazette. The official public record. A company being wound up or struck off appears here, usually before anybody mentions it.
The Chronicle on microfilm. In the reference section of the school library, by permission of Mrs Alderton. No search box. Bring a date.
The electoral register. The full register can be read at the library, under supervision. Notes by hand only.
The database at school. It holds what the business pages have already printed about a name. The school pays for it, for the paper.
A notebook. Paper, with the date at the top of the page. It does not need charging. This was not my idea.
Asking the same question twice. A week apart, in the same words. Then compare the two answers.