Companies House holds the statutory document record for every company incorporated in England and Wales. The register shows who filed what, when, and under what authority. Control — who directs the company and on what terms — is readable from that record to a defined depth.
The angle here is control: who actually holds authority over the company, what the shareholder can enforce, and where the filed record ends. That boundary is stated before any work begins.
What the register showsDirectors, persons with significant control (PSC), shareholders named in confirmation statements, registered charges, and filed accounts. Source: Companies House · verified 2026-09-15 Access conditionThe register is publicly searchable without registration. Document-level retrieval is subject to the Companies House fee schedule published at companieshouse.gov.uk. No exact tariff is stated here: fees are set by the registrar and published in the current schedule. Coverage levelLevel A — the register is the primary statutory source for incorporated entities in England and Wales. What the register does not showBeneficial ownership beyond the PSC threshold, nominee arrangements, trust structures sitting above the registered shareholder, and the economic terms of any shareholders' agreement. Source: Companies House · verified 2026-09-15Every company incorporated under the Companies Act 2006 must file a defined set of documents with Companies House. The register is the statutory record of those filings. It is not an intelligence database; it is a compliance archive.
The document layer covers:
Each document carries a filing date and, where applicable, an effective date. The record is continuous from incorporation.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
The control question has two layers in England and Wales. The first is the registered layer: who appears on the statutory record as director, shareholder, or PSC. The second is the economic layer: who benefits from those positions and on what terms.
Companies House resolves the first layer. It does not resolve the second.
Directors. The register names every current and former director, with appointment date, date of birth (month and year only), correspondence address, and — where the director is a corporate entity — the registered name and number of that entity. Resignation dates are filed but not always contemporaneous with the actual departure.
Shareholders. The confirmation statement lists shareholders and their share classes at the date of the statement. It is a snapshot, not a continuous ledger. Transfers between confirmation dates are not visible in the register until the next filing.
Persons with significant control. The PSC register names individuals or relevant legal entities meeting the statutory thresholds. Where a PSC is a corporate entity, the chain continues only if that entity is itself registered in the UK. A foreign holding company appears as a single entry; its own ownership structure is not resolved by Companies House.
Charges. The charges register records security interests notified to the registrar. A charge not registered within the statutory period may be void against a liquidator or creditor. The register shows what was filed; it does not confirm whether a charge has been discharged in practice if no satisfaction notice was filed.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
Companies in England and Wales file accounts annually. The depth of disclosure depends on the company's size classification.
| Classification | Accounts filed | Detail available |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | Abridged balance sheet only | No profit and loss; no notes |
| Small company | Abridged or full balance sheet | Profit and loss may be omitted |
| Medium company | Full accounts | Profit and loss included; some exemptions apply |
| Large company / PLC | Full statutory accounts | Directors' report, auditor's report, full notes |
A company that qualifies as small or micro may file accounts that show almost no trading information. The balance sheet confirms the company exists and has net assets or liabilities at a point in time. It does not confirm revenue, margins, or the identity of counterparties.
Where a company is part of a group, consolidated accounts may be filed at the parent level. The subsidiary's own filing may be minimal.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
The Companies House record is the ceiling of what statutory filing produces. Several categories of information are structurally absent.
Nominee arrangements. A nominee director or nominee shareholder appears on the register in their own name. The underlying principal does not appear unless they separately meet the PSC threshold and are correctly disclosed. The register cannot distinguish a principal from a nominee on its face.
Shareholders' agreements. The economic terms governing the relationship between shareholders — drag-along rights, pre-emption, reserved matters, deadlock provisions — are private contracts. They are not filed with Companies House. The articles of association are filed, but they are frequently minimal for private companies.
Beneficial ownership above the PSC layer. The PSC regime captures individuals and entities at the 25% threshold. Structures designed to hold below that threshold, or to distribute control across multiple parties each below it, may not produce a PSC entry that identifies the ultimate economic owner.
Foreign holding companies. Where the immediate parent is incorporated outside England and Wales, Companies House records the foreign entity's name and jurisdiction. It does not resolve that entity's own ownership structure. A separate registry search in the parent's jurisdiction is required.
Dissolved and struck-off companies. Historical filings for dissolved companies remain on the register but the company no longer has legal existence. A dissolved company in the chain of title is a structural gap, not a filing gap.
Gap between filing date and actual event. Directors are required to notify Companies House within 14 days of appointment or resignation. Charges must be registered within 21 days. Accounts are filed after the period end. The register reflects what was filed, not necessarily what is current at the moment of search.
The ceiling of what the sources allow is stated before payment.
The Companies House record is internally consistent as a filing archive. Disagreements arise between the register and other sources.
Register versus credit reference data. Credit agency profiles aggregate Companies House data with payment behaviour, CCJ records and other sources. Discrepancies in director names, addresses or company numbers between the register and a credit profile indicate either a data aggregation error or a filing that has not yet propagated. The register is the primary source; the credit profile is derivative.
Confirmation statement versus share transfer instrument. A share transfer executed between confirmation statement dates will not appear on the register until the next confirmation statement is filed. If a transfer instrument exists — for example, in a transaction data room — and the register does not yet reflect it, both records are correct at their respective dates. The gap is temporal, not a conflict.
PSC register versus ultimate beneficial owner. Where a corporate PSC is named, the PSC register entry and the ownership structure of that corporate entity are separate records in separate jurisdictions. They may be consistent or inconsistent. Establishing consistency requires a parallel search in the parent jurisdiction.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
The three tiers below define what is compiled, at what depth, and at what fixed price. The ceiling of each tier is stated in the "Not included" column.
| Tier | Price | What is included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €440 | Current directors and PSC entries; confirmation statement shareholders; registered charges (current); company status and incorporation date | Filed accounts; historical officer changes; dissolved entities in the chain; foreign parent resolution |
| Standard | €890 | All Signal content; filed accounts for the most recent two periods; historical director and PSC changes; charge satisfaction status; SIC classification and registered office history | Shareholders' agreement; nominee identification; foreign parent ownership structure; legal qualification of findings |
| Extended | €1,800 | All Standard content; filed accounts for up to five periods; full officer history from incorporation; group structure map to the extent resolvable from UK registries; charges register with cross-reference to satisfaction notices; written summary of where the record stops and why | Beneficial ownership beyond the PSC layer; legal advice; enforcement analysis; foreign registry searches outside England and Wales |
Payment is arranged after a request is submitted. No invoicing or prepayment terms are stated here.
Does the Companies House register confirm who actually controls the company? The register confirms who is recorded as director, shareholder, and PSC at the dates of the relevant filings. It does not confirm whether a nominee arrangement exists, whether a shareholders' agreement redistributes control, or whether the PSC entry reflects the ultimate economic owner. Those questions require sources beyond the register.
Is the register free to search? The register is publicly searchable without registration. Document-level retrieval — downloading filed documents — is subject to the registrar's fee schedule. This register is public and free to search at the company level. What the report provides is the removed path: identification of the correct company number, retrieval of the relevant documents, language processing, and a structured summary with the gaps named.
How current is the information? The register reflects filings as submitted. A director appointed yesterday may not appear for up to 14 days. Accounts are filed months after the period end. The report states the filing date of each document retrieved, so the currency of each data point is explicit.
What happens if the company has a foreign parent? The Companies House record names the foreign parent as a PSC or corporate shareholder. It does not resolve the foreign parent's own ownership structure. Resolving that layer requires a separate registry search in the parent's jurisdiction of incorporation. The Extended tier maps the group structure to the extent resolvable from UK registries and identifies where a foreign search would be required.
Can the report identify a nominee director or shareholder? The register cannot distinguish a nominee from a principal on its face. The report identifies patterns consistent with nominee use — registered office addresses shared by large numbers of companies, directorship portfolios, and discrepancies between PSC entries and shareholder entries — and states them as observations. It does not make a legal finding of nominee status.
Companies House — https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk — extracted 2026-09-15
Companies House: guidance on persons with significant control — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/people-with-significant-control-pscs — extracted 2026-09-15
Companies Act 2006 (legislation.gov.uk) — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/contents — verified 2026-09-15
Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. VLO Law Firm assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@vlolawfirm.com.
Author: James Whitfield — Partner, UK & Common Law, VLO Law Firm