Companies House (England and Wales)

Companies House is the statutory register of companies incorporated in England and Wales. It is maintained by the Registrar of Companies under the Companies Act 2006. Every document filed with the register is public, free, and redistributable under OGL v3.0.

Control over an English or Welsh company is visible at two levels. The first is formal: directors and shareholders on the register. The second is statutory: the PSC register, which names every individual or legal entity that holds more than 25 percent of shares or voting rights, or otherwise exercises significant influence or control. Both layers are searchable without registration, without a national identifier, and without a declaration of legitimate interest.

The register holds the following categories of information, each retrievable at no cost.

Incorporation and constitutional documents. The certificate of incorporation, memorandum, and articles of association are filed on formation and on every subsequent amendment. The articles define the rights attached to each share class — voting, dividend, and liquidation preference.

Officers. Every current and former director, secretary, and liquidator is listed with appointment and resignation dates. Correspondence addresses are shown; residential addresses are suppressed under the Companies Act 2006 protection regime.

Shareholders and share capital. The confirmation statement (formerly annual return) records the total issued share capital and the identity of registered shareholders. For private companies, the statement of capital shows the number, class, and nominal value of shares in issue.

Persons with significant control. The PSC register is a statutory disclosure layer introduced in 2016. It names every individual or registrable legal entity that meets one or more of five conditions: holding more than 25 percent of shares; holding more than 25 percent of voting rights; holding the right to appoint or remove a majority of directors; having the right to exercise, or actually exercising, significant influence or control; or exercising significant influence or control over a trust or firm that itself meets one of the first four conditions.

Filed financial statements. Accounts are filed annually. The level of disclosure depends on company size: micro-entities and small companies may file abridged accounts; medium and large companies file full accounts including a profit and loss statement. Dormant companies file a simplified balance sheet.

Register of charges. Every fixed and floating charge over company assets must be registered at Companies House within 21 days of creation. The register shows the date of creation, the date of registration, the nature of the charge, and the chargee. The underlying charge document is available as a filed PDF.

Insolvency and court proceedings. Winding-up orders, administration appointments, and voluntary arrangements are noted on the company record. The Gazette publishes statutory insolvency notices; the Individual Insolvency Register covers personal insolvency of directors.

The PSC register establishes the statutory control layer. It answers who holds more than 25 percent and who has the right to appoint directors. For many structures, that is sufficient to map the decision-making hierarchy.

The register does not establish economic control below the 25 percent threshold. A shareholder holding 24.9 percent does not appear in the PSC register. Nominee arrangements are disclosed only if the nominee has been notified of the underlying beneficial owner; the register records what has been notified, not what exists.

For corporate PSCs — where the registered controller is itself a company — the chain continues into that company's own jurisdiction. Companies House records the name and registered number of the corporate PSC. It does not hold the ownership records of that entity. Tracing the chain beyond the first corporate layer requires a separate registry query in the relevant jurisdiction.

Voting agreements, shareholder agreements, and side letters are not filed at Companies House unless they constitute a charge or are embedded in the articles. A shareholder agreement that modifies voting rights or creates drag-along and tag-along obligations is invisible in the register unless the articles cross-reference it.

Full accounts filed by medium and large companies include a balance sheet, profit and loss account, notes to the accounts, and a directors' report. The notes disclose related-party transactions, material contingent liabilities, and post-balance-sheet events.

Small companies filing abridged accounts show a balance sheet and selected notes. The profit and loss account is not filed. Revenue, gross margin, and operating profit are not disclosed for small companies. Micro-entities file only a balance sheet with minimal notes.

The filing deadline is nine months after the accounting reference date for private companies. A gap of up to nine months therefore exists between the period end and public availability. Accounts older than 12 months are on the register but may not reflect the current financial position.

Real property held by an English or Welsh company is registered at HM Land Registry, not at Companies House. A title register search costs £7 per title (fee effective from 9 December 2024). A name search under form PN1 — to find all titles registered to a named company — costs £15 and is submitted in paper form.

The register of charges at Companies House covers security interests over company assets. It does not show unencumbered property ownership. A company may own freehold or leasehold property with no charge registered against it; that ownership is visible only at HM Land Registry.

Vehicles and equipment are not disclosed. DVLA does not release registered keeper information to the public. Movable assets appear in company accounts only at the level of asset categories, not individual items.

There is no single public register of business licences in England and Wales. Sector-specific authorisations are held by the relevant regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority maintains the Financial Services Register for firms and individuals authorised under FSMA 2000. Other sectors — food, environmental, health and safety — are regulated by separate bodies with separate registers.

Companies House does not record licence status. A company may be dissolved or struck off while retaining an FCA authorisation in a transitional state; the two registers are not synchronised.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) publishes a consolidated list of designated persons and entities. The list is free and updated on each designation. It covers individuals and entities subject to UK financial sanctions. A company search at Companies House does not include a sanctions check; the two sources must be queried separately.

Companies House is a filing registry, not a verification authority. It records what has been filed; it does not confirm that what has been filed is accurate. The Registrar accepts documents in good faith. Errors, omissions, and deliberate misstatements appear on the register alongside accurate filings.

The PSC register records what has been notified. If a beneficial owner has not been notified to the company, or if the company has not passed the notification to the register, the entry is absent. The register does not show what has not been disclosed.

Corporate chains stop at the first non-UK entity. The register names the corporate PSC and its jurisdiction. It does not hold the underlying ownership data of that entity. The chain continues in a foreign registry that may operate under different disclosure rules, different access conditions, and a different language.

Shareholder agreements and voting arrangements that are not embedded in the articles are invisible. The register shows the formal structure; it does not show contractual modifications to that structure.

Filed accounts for small and micro companies omit the profit and loss account. Revenue and profitability are not on the public record for these entities.

The register of charges shows security interests that have been registered. A charge created but not registered within 21 days is void against a liquidator and creditors — but it may still appear in the company's own records and affect the actual financial position.