Clear information.
Checkable sources.

A little more knowledge
about the names we know.

Who Owns the Gaff? is a public-interest directory for people who want to understand the businesses they buy from. We bring company ownership, location and UK corporation-tax reporting into one place.

We build the directory one researched profile at a time, starting with familiar everyday brands. The aim is to make public information easier to understand and to help readers form their own view.

This is an independent project. The companies featured do not endorse these profiles. Letter marks identify the businesses; they are not certification badges.

Start with the public record.

We use company annual reports, filed accounts, official tax disclosures and regulatory announcements. Each profile links to the documents used, with page or section references and the date they were accessed.

“Reported” means a figure has been located in a source. It does not mean we have audited the company’s tax return. Company statements are attributed to the company, and limitations are recorded alongside the figures.

We look for the newest available annual period. Where a newer report lacks an equivalent verified UK cash figure, we can show an older figure with its original year and explain the gap. The profile review date is separate from the accounting period. Where the UK entities and their annual period have not yet been verified, we show “Annual period unverified” and do not invent a period-end date.

A brand is the starting point.

A shop sign, its operating company and its ultimate parent can all have different names. Our ownership chains identify the route to the parent, with dates and a note wherever intermediate entities are omitted.

Listed companies are owned by shareholders. A founder, chief executive or investment manager should not automatically be described as the sole owner. Any significant holding shown is dated and uses the source’s definition. A public limited company is not necessarily stock-market listed.

Companies House control disclosures describe active persons with significant control using statutory categories. These are not exact shareholdings; categories can overlap, including through trusts, and must not be added together. Separate registered controllers are not successive owners in a chain. No registrable PSC does not mean a company has no owners.

Companies House publishes information filed with it; a register entry is not independent confirmation of every claim. We corroborate the link between a brand and its legal entity rather than accepting a similar company name as a match.

Headquarters

Where the group’s main office is based. A registered-office address alone does not establish headquarters.

Incorporation

Where the named parent or operating company is legally registered, using only the jurisdiction supported by the source.

Tax residence

A separate concept, recorded only where explicitly supported by a source, not inferred from a register address.

We do not infer a company’s complete tax footprint or money flows from its headquarters. A group can have taxable activities in several countries. HMRC’s overview explains the UK framework.

Follow the named investment.

The investor directory brings together selected company disclosures, regulatory filings, investment portfolios and registered share-control records. Every disclosure names the investor or reporting manager, the held entity, its basis, the source date and the date we checked the evidence. A linked brand can be a subsidiary or portfolio business; we do not multiply parent stakes to estimate indirect brand ownership.

Equity ownership, beneficial ownership and voting rights have different definitions. Asset managers can report shares managed for clients and funds. Fund investment records identify the disclosed sponsor or vehicles; they do not establish every fund beneficiary. “Disclosed backing” means the source names a backer without establishing an equity interest.

Company notifications may remain unchanged until another disclosure threshold is crossed. Old notification dates remain visible. “Page checked” dates indicate our review of an undated portfolio or ownership page, rather than an invented transaction date. These are selected dated disclosures, not live cap tables or complete investor portfolios.

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global holdings use the official 30 June 2026 equity snapshot, with legal issuer names matched exactly or through individually reviewed aliases. Equity ownership is kept separate from voting share. Registered share-control bands retain the Companies House review date and exact subject entity. Voting-only control, board appointment rights and significant influence alone are excluded from the share-controller list.

The company coverage view includes every profile. Investor disclosures, registered share control alone, collective or public ownership and unverified investors have separate labels. A research gap or an unmatched fund issuer does not mean there are no investors.

Different measures.
Different stories.

Our headline measure is reported UK corporation tax paid in cash. A figure must identify the period, covered entities and UK scope before it can appear as a UK cash-tax amount. Disclosures that combine corporation tax with withholding taxes or accrued amounts are labelled separately when the cash corporation-tax component cannot be isolated.

Corporation tax paid

A cash payment during the period. Its timing can differ from the year in which the related profits arose.

Current tax charge

An accounting amount in the income statement. It is not the same as cash transferred to HMRC.

Deferred tax

An accounting measure involving tax effects recognised for future periods. A deferred-tax credit does not demonstrate a cash refund.

Taxes borne

Taxes the company incurs itself. A published total can combine corporation tax with other taxes.

Total tax contribution

May combine taxes borne and taxes collected from other people, such as employee PAYE and customer VAT. It is not a corporation-tax total.

For example, Amazon’s UK disclosure includes several taxes in its direct-tax aggregate. We keep that aggregate separate from corporation tax.

We retain the reported currency and distinguish refunds, credits and payments. We do not estimate a tax bill from revenue, calculate a fairness score, or rank companies using incompatible periods and scopes.

A directory that can grow.

Profiles are manually maintained and reviewed when new accounts or material ownership changes are added. They are not a live feed. Each observation retains its original period and source, and each ownership relationship carries a date.

Corrections should identify the company, the statement at issue and a supporting primary source. The editorial update should amend the record, explain any change in scope, and refresh the review date only after the source has been checked.

The current collection was reviewed in September and October 2026. Some cash-tax research remains incomplete; those gaps are labelled on the relevant profiles.