An England and Wales companies register extract is drawn from Companies House, the statutory registrar under the Companies Act 2006. The extract names the current directors, the filed share structure, and the persons with significant control (PSC). Control — who holds it, on what terms, and what a shareholder can enforce — is the first question the extract addresses. It is also the first question the extract fails to answer completely, and that ceiling is stated here before any order is placed.
The register is public. What the extract establishes is determined by what Companies House has received and accepted. What it does not establish is equally important.
What the extract showsCurrent directors, registered office, share capital as filed, persons with significant control. Source: Companies House public register · verified 2026-09-15 Access conditionNo registration required for basic search. Document-level downloads are available without a national identifier. Cost of source accessCompanies House provides the public register and filed documents under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The register itself is free of charge at the point of access. What the extract does not showBeneficial ownership beyond the PSC threshold, nominee arrangements, shareholder agreements, and any interest held below the 25% disclosure trigger.This register is public and free of charge. What you are paying for is the removed path: registration, national identifier, language, electronic signature, declaration of legitimate interest.
Companies House holds the statutory record for every company incorporated in England and Wales. The extract produced from that record covers the following:
The PSC register is the primary instrument for establishing control at the statutory level. It was introduced in 2016 and is maintained by the company itself; Companies House accepts and publishes what is filed.
Source: Companies House public register · extracted 2026-09-15
The extract answers a specific version of the control question: who is on record as holding significant influence or control over this entity, as declared by the company under statutory obligation.
It does not answer the broader version: who in practice directs the company's affairs, who benefits economically from its operations, or whether the declared PSC is itself controlled by another person or structure.
Several structural features of English company law affect what the register shows:
Nominee directors and shareholders. English law does not prohibit nominee arrangements. A nominee director appears on the register as a director. The underlying principal does not appear unless they separately qualify as a PSC.
The 25% threshold. The PSC regime captures interests above 25%. A holding of exactly 25% does not trigger disclosure. Interests held through multiple vehicles, each below the threshold, may not appear at all.
Corporate PSCs. Where the PSC is itself a legal entity, the register names that entity. It does not trace the ownership of that entity unless it is also incorporated in England and Wales and has its own PSC register.
Shareholder agreements. Rights agreed between shareholders — drag-along, tag-along, veto rights, reserved matters — are not filed at Companies House. They exist in private contracts. The register does not reflect them.
Charges. A registered charge at Companies House indicates secured lending against the company's assets. It does not describe the terms of that lending or any control rights the lender may hold under the facility agreement.
Source: Companies House public register · extracted 2026-09-15
The Companies House register is a disclosure register, not a verification register. It records what companies are required to file. It does not independently verify the accuracy of those filings.
Three structural limits apply to every extract drawn from this source:
First: the PSC ceiling. The register shows declared PSCs. It does not show interests held below the 25% threshold, interests held through chains of entities where no single link crosses the threshold, or interests held by persons who have not been identified by the company as PSCs. An entity with a complex holding structure may have no PSC on record — this is a permitted filing position in defined circumstances, not evidence of no control.
Second: the filing lag. Companies have a statutory period to notify Companies House of changes. The register reflects the position as filed, not necessarily the position as of today. A director resigned last week may still appear. A new shareholder may not yet appear.
Third: the document boundary. The extract covers what is on the public register. Shareholder agreements, side letters, trust arrangements, and nominee agreements are private documents. They are not filed. They are not visible. Their existence cannot be confirmed or excluded from the register alone.
Where the chain of control cannot be traced to a natural person from the Companies House record alone, that is a result — not a gap in the report. The report names the level at which the chain stops and states why.
| Tier | Price | What is included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €440 | Companies House extract: current officers, share capital, PSC register, filing status, registered charges summary | Shareholder agreements, nominee analysis, cross-border ownership tracing, accounts review |
| Standard | €890 | Signal content plus: review of filed confirmation statements and accounts for the past three years, charge register detail, analysis of PSC filing completeness and any "no registrable persons" entries | Tracing of corporate PSCs beyond England and Wales, contractual rights analysis, court record search |
| Extended | €1,800 | Standard content plus: corporate PSC chain tracing across available registries, review of filed articles of association for control-relevant provisions, insolvency and disqualification register checks, written analytical summary of control structure as established from sources | Legal advice, shareholder agreement review, enforcement strategy, any matter requiring legal qualification |
The Extended tier establishes the control structure to the extent that official sources permit. It does not constitute legal advice and does not qualify the facts established.
Step 1 — Identify the entity. The company number is the primary identifier at Companies House. A name search returns results but may return multiple entities with similar names. The company number eliminates ambiguity.
Step 2 — Extract the public record. The current register entry, filing history, and PSC register are available from the Companies House public register. Documents are available as PDFs. There are no structured data exports in the public interface.
Step 3 — Retrieve filed documents. Confirmation statements, accounts, and the articles of association are filed documents. Each is available individually. Bulk re-use of Companies House data requires a separate licence; per-document retrieval for analytical purposes does not.
Step 4 — Cross-reference. Where the PSC is a corporate entity, its own Companies House record is retrieved and reviewed. Where the PSC is registered outside England and Wales, the available registry for that jurisdiction is identified and, at the Extended tier, accessed.
Step 5 — Insolvency and disqualification checks. The Insolvency Service register and the Companies House disqualified directors register are checked separately from the main company record. A negative result in either register does not guarantee the absence of a filed application; it reflects the position on the register at the date of retrieval.
Delivery time for Signal is typically two to three business days from confirmation of the company number. Standard and Extended tiers require additional time depending on the complexity of the PSC chain and the availability of cross-border registry access.
Source: Companies House public register · extracted 2026-09-15 Source: Insolvency Service register · extracted 2026-09-15
Discrepancies between filed documents are themselves a result. The following patterns appear in England and Wales records and are noted in the report where found:
PSC register versus confirmation statement. The PSC register and the confirmation statement are filed separately. In some cases, the PSC named in the confirmation statement differs from the current PSC register entry. This may reflect a filing error, a lag, or a change that has been partially notified.
Share capital versus confirmation statement. The statement of capital filed on incorporation may not match the share capital shown in the most recent confirmation statement if allotments or transfers have occurred and not all filings are consistent.
Registered office versus correspondence address. The registered office is the legal address for service. It is not necessarily the trading address or the address at which the company operates. Where the registered office is a formation agent address, this is noted.
Where a discrepancy is found, the report states which document shows which position and the date of each filing. It does not resolve the discrepancy; resolution requires direct contact with the company or its advisers.
Does the Companies House extract confirm who owns the company? The extract shows the persons with significant control as declared by the company under the Companies Act 2006. It does not independently verify ownership. Interests below the 25% threshold, nominee arrangements, and interests held through offshore structures may not appear. The extract establishes the declared position, not the verified beneficial ownership.
Is the PSC register the same as a beneficial ownership register? The PSC register records persons meeting specific statutory conditions — broadly, holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or holding the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board. It is not a comprehensive beneficial ownership register. A person may benefit economically from a company without appearing on the PSC register.
Can the extract be used as evidence in a transaction? The extract is a factual compilation from the public register. Whether it is sufficient for a specific transaction purpose — due diligence, KYC, regulatory filing — depends on the requirements of the relevant process. That determination is not made in this report.
What if the company shows "no registrable persons" on the PSC register? "No registrable persons" is a permitted filing position under the Companies Act 2006. It means the company has determined that no individual or entity meets the PSC conditions. It does not mean the company has no beneficial owner. The Standard and Extended tiers include analysis of this filing position.
How current is the extract? The extract reflects the Companies House register at the date of retrieval. Companies have a statutory period to notify changes. The register is not a real-time record of the company's current position.
Does the report include legal advice? No. The report is a factual compilation from official sources. It does not constitute legal advice and does not qualify the facts established. For advice on your particular situation, contact info@vlolawfirm.com.
Companies House public register — https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk — extracted 2026-09-15
Insolvency Service register — https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/eiir — extracted 2026-09-15
Companies House disqualified directors register — https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search/disqualified-officers — extracted 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