Companies House maintains a statutory register of directors and persons with significant control for every company incorporated in England and Wales. Both layers are public. The director record names who holds formal authority to bind the company. The PSC record names who holds the power to appoint or remove directors, or who holds more than 25 percent of shares or voting rights.
Control, in this jurisdiction, is a statutory concept. The PSC regime defines it in six conditions set out in the Companies Act 2006, Schedule 1A. What the register records is which of those conditions applies — not whether the named person exercises that control in practice.
What Companies House discloses on directors
Every company incorporated in England and Wales must maintain a register of directors and file changes at Companies House within 14 days of the change occurring. The public record shows:
- Full name and any former names used in the previous 20 years
- Service address (a registered office address is permitted in place of a residential address)
- Country of residence and nationality
- Date of birth — month and year only; the day is suppressed in the public record
- Occupation
- Appointment date and, where applicable, cessation date
Resigned directors remain on the filing history. The record is cumulative: a search returns current appointments and the full sequence of past appointments for the same company number.
The service address is not a residential address. Where a director has filed a residential address suppression order under section 243 of the Companies Act 2006, the residential address does not appear in the public record at all. The suppression is noted; the address is not.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
What Companies House discloses on persons with significant control
The PSC register was introduced by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and became mandatory from 6 April 2016. A PSC is any individual or legal entity that meets one or more of the six statutory conditions of significant control.
The public record shows:
- Full name of the PSC (individual) or registered name and jurisdiction (corporate PSC)
- Nature of control — which of the six conditions applies, expressed in the statutory categories
- Date of notification and, where applicable, date of cessation
- For individual PSCs: country of residence, nationality, and month and year of birth
Where the PSC is a corporate entity rather than an individual, the register records the entity name and jurisdiction. It does not record the individuals who control that entity. The chain stops at the first corporate layer unless that entity is itself registered in England and Wales and has its own PSC filing.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
The corporate chain above the PSC
When the PSC is a company registered outside England and Wales, Companies House records that fact and stops. The register does not extend into the foreign jurisdiction. Establishing who controls the corporate PSC requires a separate filing review in the jurisdiction where that entity is incorporated.
Where the PSC is a relevant legal entity (RLE) registered in England and Wales, its own PSC filing is accessible through the same register. The chain can be traced upward through successive RLE filings until it reaches an individual or a listed company exempt from PSC disclosure.
Exempt entities — companies listed on a regulated market — are recorded as exempt. The name of the listed company appears; the shareholder register of that company is not part of the Companies House record.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
Filed financial statements and confirmation statements
Every company must file an annual confirmation statement confirming that the information held at Companies House is accurate. The confirmation statement includes the statement of capital and, for private companies, a list of shareholders with the number and class of shares held.
Filed accounts are available in the filing history. The depth of disclosure depends on the company's size classification:
| Company size | Filed accounts content |
|---|---|
| Micro-entity | Balance sheet only; no profit and loss; no notes required |
| Small | Abridged balance sheet permitted; profit and loss may be omitted |
| Medium | Full accounts with profit and loss required |
| Large / public | Full statutory accounts with directors' report and auditor's report |
A micro-entity or small company filing reveals little about trading activity or counterparty exposure. The balance sheet alone does not establish solvency or the existence of material liabilities.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15
Insolvency and disqualification records
The Insolvency Register maintained by the Insolvency Service records individual voluntary arrangements, debt relief orders, and bankruptcy orders. The register is public. It covers current proceedings and a retention period after discharge; entries are removed after that period expires.
The Companies House register of disqualified directors records individuals subject to a disqualification order or undertaking under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. The record shows the name, the period of disqualification, and the date it ends. It does not record the underlying conduct in searchable form; the underlying court order is a separate document.
A negative result in either register does not confirm the absence of a filed application that has not yet been processed. The register reflects the position at the date of extraction.
Source: Companies House · extracted 2026-09-15 Source: Insolvency Service — Individual Insolvency Register · extracted 2026-09-15
The limit of what the sources allow
The Companies House PSC register records the first layer of control above the company. It does not pierce the corporate veil of a foreign PSC. Where the beneficial owner sits behind a non-UK holding company, a trust, or a nominee arrangement, the register records the intermediate vehicle — not the individual.
Nominee arrangements are not flagged as such. A director who acts on instruction from an undisclosed principal appears in the register identically to a director who acts independently. The register records the appointment; it does not record the instruction.
Trusts are captured as a category of PSC control — the condition "right to exercise significant influence or control over a trust" — but the trustee and beneficiary names are not part of the public record. The trust itself is not registered at Companies House.
The residential address of a director who has filed a suppression order is not accessible through the public register. Access to the suppressed address requires a court order or a statutory gateway application.
Date of birth is suppressed to month and year in the public record. Full date of birth is held by Companies House but is not disclosed to the public. This limits the precision of identity verification against other databases.
The filing history shows what was filed, not whether the filed information was accurate at the time of filing. A company may file a PSC notification that is technically compliant but does not reflect the actual control structure. Companies House does not verify the substance of filings.
Where the sources disagree
The confirmation statement shareholder list and the PSC register are filed separately and may reflect different points in time. A share transfer completed after the last confirmation statement but before the next filing date will not appear in the confirmation statement. The PSC notification, which must be filed within 14 days of a change, may be more current — or may itself be delayed.
Filed accounts and the confirmation statement capital table may show different share counts where bonus issues, share buybacks, or capital reductions have occurred between filing dates. Reconciling the two requires reading both documents against the company's articles of association.
Where a director's service address is a registered office shared by many companies — a common formation agent address — the address does not distinguish between companies. Cross-referencing requires the company number, not the address.
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price | What is included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €1,350 | Director register: current and resigned directors with appointment history. PSC register: named PSC with nature of control and notification dates. Confirmation statement: current shareholders and share classes. Insolvency and disqualification check on named individuals. Written summary with source citations and extraction dates. | Corporate chain above a non-UK PSC. Filed accounts review. Trust or nominee analysis. Cross-border entity tracing. |
| Standard | €2,850 | Everything in Signal. Filed accounts review for the last three financial years: balance sheet, profit and loss (where filed), notes. Reconciliation of shareholder list against PSC register across filing dates. Disqualification register cross-check for all current and resigned directors in the review period. Identification of address patterns consistent with formation agent use. Written report with timeline of control changes. | Ultimate beneficial owner behind a foreign corporate PSC. Residential address where suppressed. Trust beneficiary or trustee identity. Legal qualification of findings. |
| Extended | €6,300 | Everything in Standard. Tracing of corporate PSC through intermediate jurisdictions where public registries are accessible. Cross-referencing of director appointments across multiple Companies House entries. Review of charges register for secured creditor positions. Identification of connected companies through shared director and address patterns. Structured data output suitable for compliance file. Annotated source documents. | Jurisdictions where the registry is not publicly accessible. Suppressed residential addresses. Trust instrument content. Legal advice or qualification of findings. |
FAQ
Does Companies House verify the accuracy of PSC filings? Companies House accepts filings as submitted. It does not independently verify whether the named PSC is the actual beneficial owner or whether the stated nature of control is accurate. The obligation to file correctly rests with the company and its officers.
Can a director's residential address be obtained if it is suppressed? Not through the public register. A suppression order under section 243 of the Companies Act 2006 removes the address from public disclosure. Access requires either a court order or an application through a statutory gateway — neither of which is part of a registry report.
What does 'nature of control' mean in the PSC record? It is the statutory category from Schedule 1A of the Companies Act 2006 that the company has notified. Examples include ownership of more than 25 percent of shares, holding more than 25 percent of voting rights, or the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board. The category is recorded; the percentage within the band is not always specified beyond the threshold.
If the PSC is a company, does the report trace who owns that company? At Signal and Standard tiers, the report records the corporate PSC as filed and stops. At Extended tier, the report traces the corporate PSC through publicly accessible registries in the jurisdiction where it is incorporated, subject to that registry being publicly accessible without a court order or national identifier requirement.
Is the information from Companies House free to access? The register is public and free of charge. What the report provides is the removed path: company number identification, document retrieval across multiple filing types, language processing where documents are in a non-English format, cross-referencing across filing dates, and a structured written output with source citations. The cost of the report reflects that work, not the cost of registry access.
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.
Sources
- Companies House — https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk — extracted 2026-09-15
- Insolvency Service — Individual Insolvency Register — https://www.insolvency.service.gov.uk/IIR/ — extracted 2026-09-15
- Companies House — Register of Disqualified Directors — https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search/disqualified-officers — extracted 2026-09-15
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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
