Companies House: Complete Guide
Everything you need to know about Companies House: how to search, what documents are available, how to read a company profile, and free tools for UK company research.
What is Companies House?
Companies House is the United Kingdom's official company registry, an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade. It is responsible for incorporating and dissolving limited companies, registering company information, and making that information available to the public. It maintains records for England and Wales, Scotland (Register of Companies Scotland), and Northern Ireland (Companies Registry Northern Ireland).
Founded in 1844, Companies House is one of the oldest and most comprehensive company registries in the world. Its data is freely accessible online, making the UK one of the most transparent jurisdictions for business intelligence.
What Information Does Companies House Hold?
Companies House holds an extensive range of information about every registered UK company. The core company record includes the company name, number, and registered office address, the date and place of incorporation, the company type (private limited, public limited, LLP, etc.), the SIC codes describing the nature of business, and the current company status.
Officer information includes current and historical directors and secretaries, LLP members, and their appointment/resignation dates. The PSC register shows persons or entities with significant control. Filing history shows every document ever submitted — including accounts, confirmation statements, charges (mortgages), and share allotments. Annual accounts (balance sheet, profit & loss, notes) are available for all filing companies.
How to Search Companies House
The main Companies House search portal is available at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. You can search by company name (including partial matches and previous names) or by company number. The search returns a list of matching companies with their status and registered office.
Once you open a company record, you'll see a filing history tab listing all documents ever submitted, sortable by type and date. Documents are available for free download as PDF or XML. The officers tab shows current and historical directors with their appointment dates, resignation dates, and date of birth (partially redacted for privacy).
Understanding Company Types and Status
UK companies come in several legal forms. Private Limited Companies (Ltd) are the most common — they offer limited liability but cannot sell shares to the public. Public Limited Companies (PLC) can offer shares publicly and must have a minimum share capital of £50,000. Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) are used by professional services firms and offer a flexible governance structure.
Company status is critical for due diligence. An Active company is legally registered and able to trade. Dissolved means the company no longer exists as a legal entity. In Administration or In Liquidation indicates formal insolvency proceedings. Receivership or Voluntary Arrangement shows financial distress being managed outside formal insolvency.
Companies House API and Data Downloads
Companies House provides a comprehensive free API for developers and data users. The API (developer.company-information.service.gov.uk) provides programmatic access to company profiles, officer information, filing history, and document downloads in JSON format. Rate limits apply to free API keys.
For bulk data access, Companies House also provides monthly snapshot data files containing information on all active companies. These are used by platforms like SYNTA-IQ to maintain an up-to-date database of UK companies enriched with data from other sources.
Recent Reforms: Identity Verification and Transparency
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced significant reforms to Companies House. From 2024-2025, Companies House began implementing mandatory identity verification for all company directors, persons with significant control, and those filing on behalf of companies. This aims to reduce the misuse of UK companies for money laundering and fraud.
Additional reforms include enhanced powers to query and remove suspicious filings, mandatory registered email addresses for all companies, and tighter rules around the use of company names. These changes make the UK registry more reliable for due diligence purposes.
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