Supplier Background Intelligence

Know who you are dealing with before you commit.

ALIX gives UK businesses a clear, structured picture of any overseas supplier before money changes hands. No jargon. No complexity. Just the truth.

48-hour turnaround
Independent. No supplier affiliations.
UK businesses only
ALIX Intelligence Report
Completed
Shenzhen Nexus Manufacturing Co.
Guangdong Province  ·  China
Risk Assessment
Low Risk
78
Legal registration Active
Export record Confirmed
Staff headcount Verified
ISO certification See notes
Paid-in Capital
¥15,000,000
The problem

Overseas sourcing is opaque by design.

Suppliers show you what they want you to see. Platforms profit from volume, not your outcomes. The risks are real and largely invisible until it is too late.

01

Fake or misleading identities

Trading companies presenting as factories. Addresses that do not match real facilities. Businesses operating under identities they are not legally entitled to use.

02

Overstated capabilities

Production capacity figures that do not hold up. Staff headcounts contradicting insured records. Certifications belonging to entirely different facilities.

03

Fraudulent certifications

ISO, CE and other documents that are expired, unverifiable or fabricated. Without cross-referencing the issuing body, there is no way to know.

04

Hidden financial instability

Registered capital looking healthy on paper with nothing actually paid in. Live court disputes and unpaid debts that never surface in a standard search.

05

Paid verification is not independent

Platforms earn revenue from supplier listings. A paid badge reflects who spent money on promotion, not who passed an independent assessment.

06

The data exists but is inaccessible

Chinese government registries, court records and customs data are publicly available. They are written entirely in Mandarin and require specialist knowledge to interpret.

Used by UK importers and product businesses across

Consumer goods Private label Electronics Homeware Fashion accessories Industrial components Packaging
How it works

Simple to start. Substantive in delivery.

No software to install and no lengthy intake process. Tell us who you are evaluating and we will do the work.

Step 01

Submit your supplier

Share the name, location and any details you have about the supplier or manufacturer you are considering. A company name or Alibaba link is enough to get started.

Takes two minutes
Step 02

We run the checks

We cross-reference Chinese government registries, court records, customs export data, social insurance filings and platform activity. All sources are in Mandarin. All checks are independent.

Within 48 hours
Step 03

You receive your report

A structured PDF written in plain English. A clear risk verdict at the top. Specific findings below. What to ask next. What to watch out for. Everything you need before you decide.

Delivered to your inbox
What we check

Every report covers the checks that matter.

We work from sources that suppliers cannot curate or manipulate. Official registries. Court records. Customs filings. Insured headcount.

Legal registration and current status

Confirmed via China's SAMR database. Active, suspended or flagged.

Business scope versus claimed activity

What the company is legally permitted to do compared to what they tell you.

Registered and paid-in capital

Registered capital on paper is meaningless. We verify what has actually been contributed.

Court records and litigation history

Disputes, unpaid debts and fraud cases from China's Supreme Court registry.

Actual staff numbers

Insured headcount cross-checked against claimed figures. A frequent red flag.

Export history and customs records

Confirms whether the company genuinely exports and to which markets.

Certification verification

Cross-referenced with issuing bodies. Expired, unrelated or fabricated certificates flagged.

Plain-language verdict

Green, amber or red. What it means. What to do next. Written for founders, not lawyers.

Written for founders, not compliance teams.

Most due diligence reports are written by and for legal departments. ALIX reports are designed for the person running the business. Someone who needs a straight answer quickly and without wading through technical language.

Every report concludes with a plain-language verdict, the specific findings behind it, and a recommended set of next steps or conditions before you proceed.

Because ALIX earns its revenue from buyers and never from suppliers, our conclusions carry no commercial conflict of interest. A supplier cannot pay to improve their assessment.

Turnaround
48 hours
Standard
Conflict of interest
None
Fully independent
Why ALIX

Built for UK businesses that source without a procurement team.

The tools that exist are either too expensive and complex for SMEs or too shallow to be meaningful. ALIX sits in the space between.

China and Asia focused

We specialise in suppliers across China, Vietnam and wider Asia. The regions where most UK SMEs source and where most problems originate.

Priced for growing businesses

Enterprise due diligence costs thousands per engagement. ALIX is designed to be accessible to businesses placing their first or fifth overseas order.

No software, no account

Submit a request, receive a report. No platform to learn, no subscription required to get started.

Genuinely independent

No commercial relationships with any supplier we assess. No affiliated factory network. No commission on introductions. Our only interest is your outcome.

Plain English throughout

No compliance jargon and no 40-page documents. A structured, readable report with a clear conclusion you can act on immediately.

Useful at any stage

Evaluating a new supplier for the first time or re-checking an existing one after concerns arise. Either way, the same structured process applies.

Get started

Ready to check a supplier?

Tell us who you are evaluating and we will be in touch within one business day to confirm details and proceed.

We will respond within one business day. No commitment is required at this stage.