That's sad, really? Even the justification is ... sad. And small.
Some other CAA's would issue the no-incident/accident clean bill of health with the licence verification, for me both of them for one revenue stamp worth 2 pounds. Of course, the statement itself reads "no record of INC/ACC", but to refuse so altogether ...
Thought as RTzero points out, some workplaces need a similar statement from the last operator(s) HQ, as the CAA note is not deemed enough.