How I check a shop, and what each wording means

A brand page here is a summary of records I could read and link to. The wording is deliberately narrow: it tells you how far a check actually got, and nothing further.

The three verification states

• Register-verified

  I found a licence number and checked it against the certifier's own public register on a stated date. This is the strongest thing I can say, and it covers the scope written on the certificate — not everything the shop sells.

• Number on file

  I hold a licence number, but I haven't yet matched it against the register. The number is real to me; the register check is still outstanding.

• Stated by the brand

  The brand states this certification and I don't yet hold a licence number to check against the register. That's a description of my records, not a doubt about the brand.

A certificate can be held by the shop or by one of its suppliers. Both are real; they answer different questions, so I say which one it is.

What "searched, not found" means

It means I searched named registers on a named date and nothing came back under that name. It is a fact about my search. It does not mean a certificate doesn't exist, and it is never a finding against a shop. Where a register is voluntary to file on — the UK modern slavery registry, for instance — a not-found result says nothing at all about whether a company publishes a statement elsewhere.

The colours

• Green — certification checked against the certifier's own register.
• Amber — evidence on file that isn't fully confirmed yet, or a record on file worth reading alongside it.
• Neutral — nothing checked yet, or searched and not found. A complete answer, not a failure.
• Red — kept for genuine concern, and used sparingly.

Tiers are a judgement about a product, never a badge for a company. You'll never see "a Tier 1 brand" here — only "Tier 1 on N of M checked items".

Why I publish this

So that someone standing in a shop can see what is documented and what isn't, in the public interest of consumer transparency. Ovine takes no money from brands. Nobody pays to score well here, and no brand can pay to have a record removed.

If you think a record is wrong, or you're a brand who'd like a reply published alongside one, that's what Corrections & right of reply is for.