Disclosure Services

What Disclosure Services does

Disclosure Services is a UK-based background screening specialist founded in 2002 by John and Caroline Clark to process Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal record checks for employers. Operating as an authorised Umbrella Body for the UK government, the company provides Basic, Standard, and Enhanced DBS checks along with Disclosure Scotland checks, AccessNI checks, and Adult First checks, serving over 50,000 organisations across education, healthcare, charity, sports, and recruitment sectors. Its technology stack comprises an online client portal for application submission and real-time tracking, plus an API layer enabling integration with applicant tracking systems (ATS) and HR platforms so customers can submit checks without leaving their existing recruitment workflows. Its revenue model is transaction-based: organisations pay per check (typically £35 inc. VAT for Basic/Standard and £52 inc. VAT for Enhanced), with volume-based discounts for high-throughput customers and admin fees layered on top of statutory DBS certificate fees.

The company was led by CEO Paul Barlow from around 2018 and grew rapidly, processing its 2 millionth application by March 2020 less than three years after its 1 millionth. In January 2023, Disclosure Services was acquired by The Citation Group, a UK and Australia-headquartered compliance and quality services provider, with the stated goal of integrating the business with uCheck (a sibling Citation Group background screening company) to build the UK's leading background screening platform. The company is headquartered in Wrexham, North Wales, with a registered office in Wilmslow, and currently employs approximately 18 people (down from 35 in 2019), reflecting post-acquisition consolidation under the Citation Group umbrella.

Name

Disclosure Services

Legal name

Disclosure Services Ltd.

Website

https://disclosureservices.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Disclosure Services is a UK-based DBS umbrella body providing Basic, Standard, and Enhanced criminal record checks to over 50,000 organisations across education, healthcare, charity, sports, and recruitment via an online portal and ATS/HR API.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Background Screening Services

NAICS

Credit Bureaus (56145)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Reporting & Recordkeeping (AML/CTF) (FSAMAMAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Data Security & Privacy Services (DLP, Encryption, Privacy Ops) (BPAKAHAM)

Keywords

• DBS check services
• Background screening services
• Disclosure Scotland checks
• Online application platform
• ATS HR integration

Headquarters

HQ city

Wrexham, North East Wales

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. DBS Check Processing Fees: Transaction-based revenue model where the company charges organisations a fee for each DBS check processed. Admin fees are charged on top of the DBS certificate fees set by the government body.
2. Volume-Based Pricing: Volume-based model where organisations processing a significant number of applications per year receive discounted rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Disclosure Services provides UK organisations with Basic, Standard, and Enhanced DBS checks, Disclosure Scotland checks, and Adult First checks. It operates an online application portal that enables organisations to register, submit, track, and manage their background‑check applications.

Product overview

Disclosure Services operates as a unified background screening platform offering multiple levels of DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks as its core products: Basic, Standard, and Enhanced checks for England and Wales, plus Disclosure Scotland checks for Scotland and Adult First checks for faster regulated staff processing. The company provides an integrated online application portal and API for ATS/HR system integration, along with a Resource Hub containing guidance materials. Following acquisition by The Citation Group in 2023, services are being integrated with uCheck brand to create a combined background screening experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Basic DBS Checks
• Standard DBS Checks
• Enhanced DBS Checks
• Disclosure Scotland Checks
• Adult First Checks
• AccessNI Checks
• DBS Check API
• Online Application Portal

Quantifiable outcome

• 56% of higher-level checks turned around within 24 hours
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Citation GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2023Disclosure Services was acquired by The Citation Group in early 2023. Citation Group is a leading provider of compliance and quality services, established in 1996 with offices in the UK and Australia. The acquisition enables integration with uCheck, another background screening expert within the group.
• uCheckcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2023Partnership with uCheck (also part of Citation Group) to build the UK's best background screening service. Combined experience and technologies create the ultimate background screening experience for clients. Together they deliver millions of checks annually.
• Glyndŵr UniversityminorOthersPartner organisation listed on the Disclosure Services website partners page.
• Cambria CollegeminorOthersPartner organisation listed on the Disclosure Services website partners page.
• Wrexham County Borough CouncilminorOthersLocal government partner and supporter of the Wrexham-based company.
• North Wales Business Council (NWBC)minorOthersRegional business support organisation partner.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Checkr: US-leading background-check platform with API-first delivery into ATS and HR systems. Highly comparable on technology and ATS-integration approach, though primarily serving the US market rather than the UK DBS framework.
• HireRight: One of the largest global background-screening providers, offering criminal, identity, employment, and credential checks. Closely comparable business model (per-check transaction fees to enterprise HR and staffing clients), but with much broader international scale than Disclosure Services.
• Sterling Check: Global background-check provider serving enterprise and consumer-reporting clients with criminal, identity, and credential verification. Comparable offering and transactional fee model, but operating globally rather than UK-only.
• Veremark: UK and international background-screening company offering criminal, employment, education, and right-to-work checks on a per-check basis. Closely comparable product, customer base (employers / staffing), and transactional revenue model to Disclosure Services.
• uCheck: Sister company under The Citation Group, offering very similar DBS and background-check services in the UK. Together they 'deliver millions of checks each year' and are being combined as the UK background-screening platform inside Citation.

Emerging players

• Onfido: Digital identity-verification provider offering KYC, Right to Work, and criminal-record checks via API. Partial overlap with Disclosure Services' identity and right-to-work workflows but broader focus on biometric and fintech identity use cases.
• TrustID: UK-based identity-verification provider offering right-to-work, DBS-linked ID, and digital identity services. Adjacent in the UK screening ecosystem, increasingly used alongside or in place of traditional DBS workflows, but narrower than Disclosure Services' full DBS portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Experian: Global credit-reference and identity-data bureau listed as a technology partner to Disclosure Services for identity verification and credit checking. Comparable information-provider role for evaluating applicants, but operates at vastly greater scale across credit, marketing, and fraud.
• TransUnion: Major credit-reference and information-services bureau offering consumer reporting, identity, and fraud solutions. Functionally comparable as an information aggregator used to assess individuals for permitted purposes, but at global scale and breadth well beyond UK DBS.
• GBG Group: Established identity-verification and fraud-prevention group covering KYC, AML, location, and consumer-data verification. Adjacent to DBS-style screening via identity-verification and right-to-work products, but a much wider portfolio of compliance services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/disclosureservices

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Disclosure Services