Appointed representative
This firm does not hold FCA authorisation of its own, and acts under a principal firm, which is legally responsible for its regulated business.
- Appointed for 3 years
- Protected through the principal
- No FCA actions
- Active company since 2023
- Accounts filed up to 30 April 2025
- 1 thing worth a closer look in the background checks
Responsible principal firm
Connect IFA Ltd Reference number: 441505 View firm →What does this mean?
- An appointed representative (AR) can carry out regulated financial services, but is not directly authorised by the FCA. A principal firm holds the authorisation and is legally responsible for the AR's conduct.
- Best Direct Finance Ltd (FRN 1000443) is an AR of Connect IFA Ltd (FRN 441505). When you use Best Direct Finance's services, the FCA authorisation sits with the principal firm.
- Example: if you take financial advice from Best Direct Finance, complaints and compensation usually follow the same rules as dealing with the principal, but this depends on the product and your circumstances.
- Before you proceed, confirm contact details match the official FCA register for both firms. Scammers sometimes clone legitimate AR names and FRNs but use fake phone numbers and websites.
Website, phone number and address
Compare these against whatever you were given. Scammers clone real firm names and reference numbers but use their own phone number and website, so a detail that does not match the register is the clearest warning sign there is.
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No website on the FCA register
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Phone number
-
Address
128 City Road, London, London, EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom
In the full report: 2 background checks, 1 thing worth a closer look
- What kind of line 07740 197555 is
- Whether EC1V 2NX is a shared office: 220 other firms give it
FCA permissions and consumer protection
- Protection through the principal firmProtection works through Connect IFA Ltd, the principal firm responsible for this firm's regulated activity. FSCS cover and the Financial Ombudsman Service apply as they would to the principal.
- Complaints Ombudsman, freeYou can refer a complaint about this firm to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free, whichever activity it relates to.
FCA disciplinary action and complaints
No FCA disciplinary action.
The Financial Ombudsman Service only publishes complaint figures for firms with 30 or more new complaints in six months, so there are none here for this firm.
Companies House record
The company behind the firm: its status, age, registered office and directors.
- Company number
- 14801916 (opens Companies House in a new tab)
- Company status
- Active
- Company type
- Private limited company
- Incorporated
- 14 April 2023 (3 years old)
- Registered office
- 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom
- Nature of business
-
- Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified (SIC 64999)
- Activities auxiliary to financial intermediation not elsewhere classified (SIC 66190)
Directors and company secretaries
| Name | Role | Born | Appointed | Other companies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lavanya Xavier Raj | Director | Sep 1986 | 14 Apr 2023 | None |
In the full report: every company its directors have run
- Confirmation that its director runs no other company
Filed accounts and finances
Net assets
£12.3k
+546% from £1,907
Employees (average)
0
Same as 0
Owed within a year
−£5,595
Down £5,919 from £324
Net assets
About these figures
- Turnover
- Money taken from sales in the year, before any costs.
- Profit before tax
- What was left after the year’s costs, before corporation tax. A minus figure is a loss.
- Net assets, or total equity
- Everything the company owns minus everything it owes. A minus figure means it owes more than it owns.
- Total assets and total liabilities
- Everything the company owns, and everything it owes, on the last day of the year. The gap between them is its net assets.
- Cash at bank
- Money in the company’s accounts on the last day of the year.
- Owed within a year, owed after a year
- Debts and bills due in the next twelve months, and those due later.
There is no turnover or profit: small companies do not have to publish them.
Accounts filed at Companies House for company 14801916. Every figure is as filed, apart from total assets and total liabilities, which are added up from filed figures. Nothing is estimated.
Key dates in its history
Best Direct Finance’s history from the FCA register and Companies House, newest first.
2023
26 July 2023
- Became an appointed representative
FCA register
14 April 2023
- Incorporated at Companies House
- Lavanya Xavier Raj took control (75–100% of shares)
- Lavanya Xavier raj appointed as a director
Companies House
Director appointments and resignations, and trading names, appear under All events.
Firms like Best Direct Finance
Other firms of the same type (mortgage adviser or broker), nearest first.
In London
Firms are listed by type and location, best known first. Being listed is not a recommendation: check any firm before you deal with it.
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- Every company its directors have run, named
- 2 background checks on its contact details, 1 flagged
- All 4 events in its history
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Frequently asked questions about this firm
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Sources and links
- Its entry on the FCA register register.fca.org.uk
- Its Companies House record gov.uk
- Complaints the Financial Ombudsman Service can help with financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Report a scam to the FCA fca.org.uk