Reviews
Part of Reviewing fitness platforms, providers and agencies with health claims on their own track
Fitness creators selection: verify the company, people and claims behind a supplier
A fitness creators selection checklist for England on who stands behind a supplier: company, staff, health register, claims and ownership checks.
Before signing, check a fitness creator supplier as a set of real people and records, not as a pitch. Confirm who the contracting party is, who will touch your accounts, which register covers the person making health statements and who can change the content. An unverified answer means hold, even when a demonstration looks persuasive.
What to take away
- Verify the contracting party, the named workers and any claimed health register before the commercial discussion goes further.
- Record pass, fail, unclear or not applicable for each check, with a named owner.
- A company record or a register entry confirms a status, not capability or scope.
- Every objective health claim needs evidence, permitted wording, an expiry date and a reviewer.
- If identity or health scope remains unclear, record no selection.
Confirm the contracting party
Start with the company, because every other check attaches to it. Write down the supplier's full legal name, company number, registered office and contracting party, and record any ownership change. The Companies House service provides company records, officers and filings; it does not endorse capability.
Treat a mismatch as a finding. If the name on the proposal differs from the contracting party, ask why before any check is marked pass. A later ownership change is a review trigger, so note the date on which the record was checked.
Name the people behind the work
Name every proposed worker and subcontractor with access to content, accounts or personal data. A supplier that cannot say who will do the work has not answered a mandatory question. Verify references directly with the referee rather than through screenshots the supplier supplied.
Anyone with access to personal data brings UK GDPR duties, and the ICO notes that fitness-tracker data can reveal health. Ask the supplier how that access is logged and removed.
Keep the list current. A worker added after signing gains the same access as one named at the start, so the record should show who was added, on what date and who approved the access. A subcontractor the supplier did not name is a gap in the record, not a detail to fix later.
Match health statements to the right register
A claimed regulated health professional needs a recorded register, identifier, status and checked date. The right register depends on the profession, such as the General Medical Council or the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC registers health and care professionals who meet its standards, not every fitness role.
For personal trainers and coaches the HCPC is not the register. CIMSPA, the professional body for the sport and physical activity workforce, is the place to ask what its records show.
A register entry confirms a status, not a scope. Write down which tasks the person will do and compare them with what the register covers. The working rules should also include a rule against individual diagnosis or treatment outside verified scope.
Tie each claim to a reviewer and an expiry
List each objective fitness or health claim with its evidence, permitted wording, expiry date and reviewer. The ASA administers the CAP Code, and CAP section 12 requires substantiation for objective health-related advertising claims. A claim with no named reviewer or expiry date is unresolved, and unresolved means hold.
Define who can brief, approve, pause, correct and withdraw content, and include an urgent welfare route. Set disclosure language for payment, gifts, commission, affiliate links and the creator's own brand. Check the final placement and prominence under your disclosure policy, not merely the contract. The CMA's endorsement guidance for creators applies when an incentive or business connection is present, whatever the follower count.
Owners and sign-off
Every check needs one named owner. The owner records pass, fail, unclear or not applicable and signs the row. Take the owners from the release roles the team already uses, so each row names a person rather than a department.
A registered health professional and the named specialists approve their respective gates. Anything they have not seen stays unclear, and the decision note should say so rather than imply an approval nobody gave.
Recording the result
Record pass, fail, unclear or not applicable for each row, with the name of the person who made the check. An unanswered mandatory question means hold, and so does a mismatch nobody has explained. If identity or health scope remains unclear, record no selection.
| Check | Record | Verify with | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Legal name, number, registered office, contracting party | Companies House record | A record does not endorse capability |
| People | Every worker and subcontractor with access | Direct reference checks | Supplied screenshots are not verification |
| Health professional | Register, identifier, status, checked date | The register for that profession | HCPC covers its regulated professions, not every fitness role |
| Claims | Claim, evidence, wording, expiry date, reviewer | CAP section 12 substantiation | No reviewer or expiry means unresolved |
| Ownership | Date of last check | Re-check at each review trigger | Ownership and registration changes reopen the row |
The final decision note should list passed gates, exclusions and signatories. Attach the evidence ledger to the contract with the intellectual-property permissions, and set review triggers for ownership, terms, incidents and professional registration.
A supplier that passes these checks still needs a trial on fictional records. Test permissions, mistaken publication, deletion requests and the withdrawal of a health claim, as the synthetic-material implementation runbook sets out, before any real client data goes in.
Before you act
- Write down the legal name, company number and contracting party.
- Name every worker and subcontractor with data access.
- Verify references directly rather than through supplied screenshots.
- Record the register, identifier, status and checked date for each health professional.
- Give every objective health claim a reviewer and an expiry date.
Common questions
Does a Companies House record show a supplier can do the work?
No. It provides company records, officers and filings, and it does not endorse capability.
Does a register entry cover every task a fitness supplier offers?
No. The HCPC register covers its regulated professions, not every fitness role or every task, so compare the person's tasks with what the register covers.
Who approves the health gates?
A registered health professional and the named specialists approve their respective gates. These checks are editorial research, not a clinical, legal, privacy or security opinion.
