My friend is a mobile phone dealer. At the moment, Orange is offering excellent business tariffs but they make it jolly difficult to get on to them.
A well established and respected financial adviser wanted an Orange contract phone. He was declined on the basis that he was not listed in "The Small Business Register". A Chartered Accountant of 9 years' standing was refused for the same reason.
What is this "Small Business Register"? Who publishes it and where can it be seen?
I rang Orange and after being put from pillar to post was told that it is something kept by Experian, the credit reference agency. If Experian had a note of you as a business you were in; if not, you were out. All limited companies were in, it appears!
I just wonder why a credit reference agency are competent to say whether someone is in business or not.