Unregistered workers

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me. We live in the UK and have some gites over here and wanted a website making. We contacted someone who purported to do this who lived in the Vienne. When we asked some questions we got a very shirty reply and were told to find another web designer if we wanted answers to such questions!! A very strange reply we thought. We looked further into their website, links etc and can only conclude that they are not registered even though they seem to run another business as well. Who could I get in touch with to find out if they are? I have tried checking various websites which claim to check SIRET numbers but can't seem to find them. Is there a government body who checks this sort of thing does anyone know please?

Regards

S. Lewis

Don't assume the worst, I have two businesses in France, both registered, both with SIRET numbers, if I search them on these sites that you mention, my Gite business doesn't register, which suggests its not legal, but I have all the paperwork and pay the taxes. The building company which was created one year later comes up no problem.

There may well be lots of people working "on the black" as the French call it, but I can assure you its not just Brits. The registration, administration and taxation here is neither simple or cheap. When I was setting up the first business I was sent from one department to another and back again, the system is so complex sometimes even the average employee of these government departments don't know the correct procedures.