The Companies House search service gives anyone free access to detailed records on every company registered in the United Kingdom. Using this service, you can check the status of a potential business partner, review your own company’s public profile, or research a particular market. In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about the Companies House Search Service, including how it is used by entrepreneurs, business owners, and other stakeholders.
- Companies House offers a free online service for viewing information on registered UK companies and LLPs.
- Users can access company data like registration dates, director information, and financial statements without registration.
- The service includes an advanced search function, allowing complex queries on company details.
- Recent improvements aim to enhance transparency and user access to historical company data and filings.
What Is the Companies House Search Service?
The Companies House search service is an online tool that allows individuals and businesses to view publicly available information on companies in the UK. Companies House is the official registrar of companies in the United Kingdom. It holds public records for all incorporated entities, including private limited companies, public limited companies, limited liability partnerships, and limited partnerships.
There is no need to register an account or pay a fee. The Companies House Search Service is available to everyone, from company directors to members of the general public. Originally launched in 2015, the search service now handles billions of search requests each year. The register contains over 5.35 million companies, reflecting the continued growth of UK business formation.
The service covers a wide range of entity types:
- Private companies limited by shares
- Private companies limited by guarantee
- Public limited companies (PLCs)
- Private unlimited companies
- Limited liability partnerships (LLPs)
- Limited partnerships
- Overseas entities registered in the UK
What Information Is Available Through the Companies House Search Service?
When you set up a UK limited company, the information you provide at incorporation immediately becomes part of the public register and is searchable through this service. Company overview information includes the registered company name, the company registration number (which is a unique eight-character identifier assigned at incorporation), the type of company, and its current status. The date of incorporation, the registered office address, and the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes describing the company’s activities are also shown.
| Category | Examples of information available |
|---|---|
|
Company details |
Name, registration number, status, type, SIC codes, registered address, date of incorporation, company’s memorandum and articles of association, and certificate of incorporation. |
|
Officers |
Current and resigned directors, secretaries, LLP members, dates of appointment and resignation, nationality, country of residence, month and year of birth |
If a company uses a standard ‘Model Articles of Association’ without any changes during the online registration process, Companies House may only show the memorandum.
In addition, the following information can be found using this service:
- When the last annual accounts and confirmation statement were filed, and when the next ones are due.
- Full filing history, including downloadable PDF copies of confirmation statements, annual accounts, officer appointments, resignations, address changes, and incorporation documents.
- Information on persons with significant control (PSCs) – a PSC is generally anyone who holds more than 25% of a company’s shares or voting rights, or who otherwise exercises significant influence or control over the company. The register shows their name, date of birth (month and year only), nationality, correspondence address, country of residence, and the nature of their control.
- Mortgage charge data, insolvency information, and previous company names. If you are forming a new company and want to check whether a name is already in use, the Companies House search service provides a useful company name availability tool.
How to Search the Companies House Register
The starting point for any Companies House search is the official ‘Find and update company information’ service on the Companies House website. Users can search in three ways. The most common method is to enter a company name into the search bar. Alternatively, you can search using a company registration number, which produces a single, precise result. You can also search by officer name, which returns a list of companies associated with that individual.
When searching by name, the system returns all companies with matching or partially matching names. Each result shows the company name, registration number, registered address, and status. Clicking on a result opens the company’s profile page, which is organised into tabs: Overview, Filing History, People, and More.
Using the Companies House Advanced Search Function
The advanced search function provides a much more targeted way to query the Companies House register. Advanced search allows users to filter results by several criteria:
- Company name (including or excluding specific words)
- Registered office address (full or partial)
- Date of incorporation (exact date or range)
- Company status (active, dissolved, in administration, or in liquidation)
- Nature of business (using SIC codes)
- Company type or subtype
- Date of dissolution
This function is particularly useful for market research, competitor analysis, or identifying companies in a specific sector or region. For example, you could search for all active technology companies incorporated in Manchester since 2020.
Who Uses the Companies House Search Service and Why?
The Companies House search service serves a broad range of users:
- Investors use it to verify the legitimacy and financial standing of companies before committing funds.
- Businesses use it to carry out due diligence on potential partners, suppliers, or clients.
- Consumers also use the service to confirm that a company they plan to deal with is genuinely registered and active.
- Lenders and financial institutions check the register as part of credit and risk assessments.
- Company directors and shareholders use the service to monitor their own company’s public profile. This includes checking that filed information is accurate, reviewing deadlines for upcoming filings, and confirming that no unauthorised changes have been made.
One useful feature is the ability to ‘follow’ a company. By registering a free account, users can receive email alerts whenever a company files new documents or updates its information. This allows you to keep track of competitors, clients, or business partners.
What the Companies House Search Service Does Not Show
Financial accounts filed by micro-entities and small companies may contain only limited detail, as these entities are permitted to file abbreviated or simplified accounts. Full profit and loss information is not always disclosed by smaller companies, although reforms under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) are expected to require all companies to file profit and loss accounts in the future.
Personal home addresses are generally not shown, provided officers have used a separate service address for correspondence. However, if a home address appears on older filings (for example, if it was used as a registered office), it may still be visible. Directors can apply to have their home addresses suppressed from older documents.
It is also important to understand that Companies House does not verify the accuracy of the information that companies file. It performs basic checks to ensure documents are complete and correctly formatted, but it does not confirm whether the content is truthful.
Recent Changes Affecting the Companies House Search Service
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) has introduced significant changes to how Companies House operates and what appears on the register. These reforms are being phased in over several years.
Since 4th March 2024, all companies must provide a registered email address and confirm that their intended future activities are lawful. Companies House also gained greater powers to query information, apply stricter checks on company names, and annotate or remove misleading data from the register.
From 18th November 2025, identity verification became compulsory for all new directors and persons with significant control at the point of incorporation or appointment. Existing directors and PSCs have a 12-month transition period to verify their identity. Companies House estimates that six to seven million individuals are affected by this requirement. Identity verification can be completed through GOV.UK One Login or through an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP). Once verified, individuals receive a personal code from Companies House that must be provided with future filings. By late 2026, identity verification is expected to become compulsory for anyone filing a document at Companies House. Third-party agents filing on behalf of companies will need to be registered as ACSPs.
From 18th November 2025, companies are also no longer required to maintain local registers of directors, directors’ residential addresses, secretaries, or PSCs. This information must instead be filed directly with Companies House, which means the central register becomes the single authoritative source.
| ECCTA Change | Date |
|---|---|
|
Registered email address required; lawful purpose statement; enhanced registrar powers |
4th March 2024 |
|
Identity verification compulsory for new directors and PSCs |
18th November 2025 |
|
Identity verification for all filers; third-party agents must be registered ACSPs |
Late 2026 |
Using the Companies House Search Service Through the API
For businesses and developers who need to access company data at scale, Companies House provides a free application programming interface (API). The API enables the retrieval of company information without the need for manual searches through the website. Common uses include integrating real-time company data into customer onboarding systems, compliance platforms, and financial applications. For example, a company formation agent may use the API to verify company details as part of their service.
To use the API, you need to register for a free account on the Companies House developer hub. The API provides access to the same data available through the web-based search service, including company profiles, officer information, filing histories, and PSC data.
Final Words
The Companies House search service is a great resource for anyone who needs to look up information about UK-registered companies. With ongoing reforms under ECCTA, strengthening data quality and the new identity verification requirements, the reliability of the register will almost certainly improve further in the years ahead.
