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.

Headquarters

Where the group’s main office is based.

Incorporation

The jurisdiction where the parent company is legally registered.

Tax residence

A separate concept, recorded only where explicitly supported by a source.

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.

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 2026. Some cash-tax research remains incomplete; those gaps are labelled on the relevant profiles.