Searching the Companies House register
Using our Find and update company information service to follow companies and search company information for free.
Our Find and update company information service makes all of the public data we hold on companies available free of charge. You do not need to register to view company information through this service.
You can also access this free data through our application program interface (API). This allows both consumers and technology providers access to real time updates on companies.
You can get details about a company for free, including:
- basic company information (including company type, registered office address)
- the nature of business (SIC)
- the company status (for example live or dissolved)
- the date of last accounts or confirmation statement filed
- the date of next accounts or confirmation statement due
- full transaction filing
- images of documents
- officer searching
- current and resigned officers
- disqualified directors
- previous and dissolved names search
- mortgage charge data
- insolvency information
From 1 November 2022 you will not be able to order copies of company information by phone or by post with a cheque, postal order or similar. This information is available online free of charge.
Follow companies
Follow is a free service from Companies House which sends you email alerts of company transactions. The alert tells you instantly what information has been filed as soon as we’ve accepted it.
The email alert includes a link to the filing history of the company you’re following, where you can download a copy of the document for free.
How to follow a company
- Sign in to Find and update company information once you’ve registered an email address and password.
- Search for a company to follow.
- Select the company.
- Select ‘Follow this company’.
Records of dissolved companies
Following the government’s response to the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform consultation, we’ve:
- stopped removing dissolved records from the Find and update company information service
- added the records of all companies dissolved since January 2010 to the service
Previously, records of dissolved companies were removed from this service after 6 years (from the date of dissolution).
As part of our commitment to enhancing corporate transparency, we’ll continue to keep records of dissolved companies for 20 years from the date of dissolution. These records are currently available on other Companies House products for a fee.
Our long term intention is to make these dissolved records available for free on the Find and update company information service. We will not do this until the law is changed to allow greater protection of personal information on the public register.
It’s important that we balance corporate transparency with personal data privacy concerns. If you’re currently a company officer (or were previously), you may wish to review your company records to check if you’ll be affected by this change.
See our guidance on restricting the disclosure of personal information.
Service information
Disclaimer
The information available on our Find and update company information service is not intended to be comprehensive. Many details which may be relevant to particular circumstances have been omitted.
It should not be regarded as being a complete source of company law and information. Users are advised to seek independent professional advice before acting on any information.
Companies House cannot take any responsibility for the consequences of errors or omissions.
Data protection
Companies House collects personal data from customers for a variety of reasons. For example, the registrar is required by law to collect and make public certain information about officers of companies and other entities, including directors and people with significant control (PSCs).
Companies House also handles the personal data of customers writing in with queries or complaints, and collects personal data from those individuals signing up to use our digital services.
See the Companies House personal information charter for more information.
Company search and disqualified directors search
The information available is an extract from the register of companies and register of disqualified directors which are updated on a regular basis. This may mean that occasional inaccuracies occur which we correct as soon as they are drawn to our attention.
If you spot something which you think might be wrong, contact Companies House so we can correct our data, if necessary.
Company information supplied by Companies House
We carry out basic checks on documents received to make sure that they have been fully completed and signed. We do not have the statutory power or capability to verify the accuracy of the information that companies send to us.
The fact that the information has been placed on the public record should not be taken to indicate that Companies House has verified or validated it in any way.
Company accounts
When Companies House examines accounts it only makes basic checks on them. For example, to make sure the appropriate documents are there, that they are for the correct financial year and that they have been authenticated.
If we receive a complaint that the accounts do not comply with the Companies Act 2006 (or previous acts) in some way, we have a duty to draw this to the company’s attention. If appropriate, we’ll ask for a set of revised accounts which comply with the requirements.
Links to external websites
It is our policy to obtain permission to link to other websites. We are not responsible for the content or reliability of the linked websites.
Listing should not be taken as endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and we have no control over the availability of linked pages.
Cookies
Read about our cookie policy.
Information collected on behalf of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
A person can Set up a limited company and register for Corporation Tax at the same time. Through this service, Companies House will act as agents for HMRC and provide an option to register the company for Corporation Tax.
Once the company is registered, Companies House will send the Corporation Tax information to HMRC. We will not retain this information.
Acceptable use of Companies House searchable databases
The Companies House searchable databases are designed to meet the needs of a wide range of users wishing to interrogate our information online.
Due to limitations of equipment and bandwidth, they are not intended to be a source for bulk downloads.
Individuals, companies, IP addresses or blocks of IP addresses who deny or degrade service to other users by generating unusually high numbers of daily database accesses, whether generated manually or in an automated fashion, may be denied access to these services without notice.
Read about Companies House data products.
The extractives service
The extractives service is designed to allow companies to meet their legal obligations to file reports under The Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014.
These regulations apply to all require large undertakings in the extractives industries in relation to a financial year starting on or after 1 January 2015, apart from those undertakings which are subsidiaries of parent undertakings who are obliged to prepare consolidated group accounts in member states other than the UK. These regulations will apply in relation to financial years for these undertakings beginning on or after 1 January 2016.
By making these reports available for inspection by members of the public, the registrar enables the service to contribute to transparency.
User information
1. Companies House means the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales, or Scotland, or Northern Ireland depending on the circumstances. The Find and update company information service (the service) means the online facility provided by Companies House for the purposes of delivering, accessing and obtaining information in digital form. A presenter means a person who is authorised to and wishes to deliver a document for filing at Companies House.
2. A presenter who wishes to use the service must register using Companies House’s on-line registration process. The presenter must supply Companies House with a valid email address and password as part of this process. Companies House will send a verification email to the email address provided. The verification email contains a link. The presenter must click on the link to verify the email address and complete the registration process.
3. The presenter can amend their registered email address and password by completing the process described on the service. They cannot delete the registered email address or password.
4. Companies House will retain and use the service registration data provided by the presenter to provide that service.
5. Any document delivered for filing must be accompanied by the appropriate authentication or presenter code for that document. See the registrar’s rules for more information. Presenters can apply for authentication codes using the service. The code will be sent by post to the registered office or principal business address of the company or body.
6. At present, the service can only be used to deliver a limited class of filings to Companies House. Documents that are properly delivered using the service will be registered on the public register in accordance with Companies House’s usual document acceptance policies.
7. The service may also be used to search and take copies of material on the register, including:
- the registered name of registered entities, including companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and those dissolved in the 12 months preceding a search (not including UK establishments of overseas companies)
- an overview including registered name, registered number, registered office address, status, entity type, incorporation date, accounts and annual return filing dates and overdue markers, current and resigned officer count, first 5 officers and business description
- the filing history of registered material and associated document images - images are free from 2003 onwards, paper documents registered before 2003 that require scanning are available from the Companies House contact centre and cost £3 each
- ‘officers’ - all current and resigned officers
- ‘charges’ - charge details are displayed for all outstanding and part-satisfied charges satisfied since 1 January 1987 - for entities registered in Northern Ireland before 1 October 2009, see the filing history for charge information before that date
- insolvency information - number of insolvency cases, type of insolvency regime, petition date, winding up date, insolvency practitioner name and address and, where applicable, links to charge information
Last updated 30 November 2023 + show all updates
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Companies House WebCheck service has now closed.
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WebCHeck service closing on 30 November 2023.
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From 1 November 2022 we will no longer accept requests for copies of company information by post.
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Records of dissolved companies since 2010 have been added to Companies House Service (CHS).
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Update to records of dissolved companies on CHS following the government’s response to the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform consultation.
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First published.