Corporate report

Companies House business plan 2026 to 2027

Published 19 May 2026

1. Who we are

Companies House is an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). We hold the United Kingdom’s register of companies and the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE).

2. What we do

Companies House register and maintain information on UK companies, making this data openly available to support transparency and trust in the UK business environment. We are dedicated to providing outstanding and efficient services to all our customers and users. Our work helps create the conditions for economic growth by giving businesses and investors valuable, reliable information and helping to prevent the misuse of company data.

3. Our strategic focus

Economic growth continues to be core to Companies House. By giving entrepreneurs limited liability, we make it safer for them to start and grow businesses in the UK. The data we make available publicly forms the basis for credit and business decisions, adding value to business products and services, all of which further supports the economy. At the same time, Companies House takes action to disrupt economic crime and misuse of the register, because a transparent and accountable UK business environment is essential if legitimate companies are to succeed.

In October 2025 we published a strategy to 2030, based on a vision of being the trusted guardian of corporate transparency, acting as a catalyst for economic growth, while protecting businesses and people from harm. In the coming financial year, we continue to work towards that vision.

We will improve the accuracy of information on the register, deliver reliable services for our customers, and deepen partnerships that help tackle economic crime and reduce harms to legitimate businesses and members of the public.

We will continue to make our internal processes more efficient, enhance our digital platforms, and use data more effectively to improve decision-making. Meanwhile, we remain committed to supporting our people, ensuring they have the skills, tools and environment they need to deliver.

4. Key achievements in 2025 to 2026

In the financial year 2025 to 2026:

• Our customers successfully made 17.3 million filings with us.
• 3.8 million identity verifications via OneLogin or Authorised Corporate Service Providers, making Companies House data more reliable.
• New powers used in relation to 157,769 companies, to enforce the Registrars’ objectives that protect the integrity of the register.
• £6.7 million efficiencies realised, in comparison to controllable spend in 2024 to 2025.

5. Our priorities for 2026 to 2027

Our priorities for 2026 to 2027 are set out below, structured around our six strategic objectives.

5.1 Authoritative and transparent data

Trusted data informs business decisions and enables access to finance, underpinning a fair and competitive business environment. Our goal is to ensure Companies House data is authoritative and transparent, to increase its value to users and support economic growth. The data on Companies House registers is already valued in excess of £1-3 billion annually, and we expect that value to increase as our data becomes more reliable and easier to use.

In 2026 to 2027 we will:

1. Clean up the register by scaling up automated data quality metrics, validation checks and cleansing processes, making it easier to identify inaccuracies and non-compliance.
2. Continue our work to prevent abuse of the register by applying our intelligence and analytical capability and implementing measures to stop companies being formed or from filing if they are a cause for concern.
3. Scale up data sharing with government and law enforcement partners including HMRC and the Insolvency Service, to enable more effective joint action to protect the UK’s business environment.
4. Continue to enhance our data governance and data literacy amongst colleagues, to improve overall Companies House data maturity in relation to the Government’s data standards.
5. Expand our understanding of performance through new metrics, building on cloud data platform and performance framework outputs from 2025 to 2026. This supports Companies House to take increasingly sophisticated, data-led decisions to inform our services for customers.

5.2 Prevent, detect, and disrupt economic crime

Economic crime is damaging for businesses and individuals. The Economic Crime Survey 2024 showed that 1 in 4 businesses with employees experienced fraud in the 12 months prior to the survey, with 71% incurring financial loss as a result.

Companies House information can be instrumental in law enforcement action against those who abuse the UK’s company law framework. Therefore, our strategic objective to prevent, detect and disrupt economic crime is for the protection of individuals and businesses, supporting their ability to invest and grow, as well as to safeguard the integrity of the register.

In 2026 to 2027 we will:

1. Take targeted enforcement action against those misusing the register, including those hiding behind false addresses or ‘front directors’, and those who seek to file false information as a cover for criminal activity.
2. Take proportionate action against those who fail to verify their identity, so that bad practice cannot hide behind false identities.
3. Collaborate with law enforcement partners through joint operations to disrupt economic crime, including coordinated activity on high street crime.
4. Further embed our collaboration with the Insolvency Service and HMRC to take joint action where corporate structures are being exploited, including through a strategic operational group.
5. Sharpen our insight into emerging fraud and criminal threats to the register, through our annual strategic intelligence assessments.

5.3 Implementing reforms to the UK’s company law framework

Companies House continues to deliver the most significant company law reforms in over a century. These measures will lead to improved transparency and more accurate and trusted information on our registers. For example, mandatory identity verification will give consumers and businesses greater confidence that the individuals behind companies are who they say they are. We are committed to minimising the administrative burden of these new requirements, making it as simple as possible for companies and other registered entities to comply, while realising the benefits of these new measures for the economy.

In 2026 to 2027 we will:

1. Continue to support directors and people with significant control (PSCs) to verify their identities, through the 12-month transition period that launched in November 2025. This year we will also take steps towards extending mandatory identity verification for those filing on behalf of companies.
2. Progress reforms relating to limited partnerships (LPs), to ensure that the information we hold and publish on LPs is more accessible and transparent.
3. Continue comprehensive multi-channel communication of these changes, and what they mean for our customers and their agents, including through our Changes to UK company law website.
4. Companies House is committed to understanding the impact of change as we implement the reforms. Utilising a best practice approach, we will continue to evaluate customer experience of reforms, to ensure our approach to implementation is led by evidence.

5.4 Providing seamless services

Companies House has a track record of delivering high levels of customer service. The coming year will see further improvements to our services as we invest in digital enhancements, and we will continue to look for practical ways to minimise burdens on legitimate businesses.

In 2026 to 2027 we will:

1. Deepen our understanding of what our customers need from our services and our data, using insight from key groups to shape future improvements.
2. Deliver incremental improvements to services that simplify the customer experience and improve efficiency both for customers and Companies House.
3. Improve our support and guidance for customers, including collaboration with HMRC and the Insolvency Service, so that companies can navigate different requirements.
4. Continue to expand our digital services and set out a roadmap for moving away from paper. Reducing inbound and outbound paper will lower costs, improve efficiency, and help us keep the register up to date.
5. Improve how we measure customer experience.

5.5 Modernising our technology

We recognise the need to modernise our technology infrastructure, to ensure our systems match our ambition for excellent customer experience. Over the coming years, we will take a phased approach to improving our underlying technology to boost performance, reduce risk, and ensure we can work effectively with government partners for the benefit of our customers.

In 2026 to 2027 we will:

1. Continue our programme of updating our software and infrastructure, providing cost savings on licences and improving security and performance.
2. Make business improvements and essential service upgrades to make our internal systems more reliable, secure and effective, so that colleagues can work more efficiently.
3. Expand dedicated digital support for our services, to ensure our services continue to evolve and improve and better meet the needs of our customers.
4. Continue to manage and integrate AI responsibly and effectively into our daily operations by ensuring we have the right processes, skills and capabilities. We will also update and publish our AI adoption plan to ensure it remains responsive to the evolving needs of our customers and the organisation.
5. Define our approach and requirements for a more significant modernisation of our technology, and use this to develop a clear longer-term roadmap.

5.6 Evolving our culture and conditions

Our people are central to our ability to deliver high quality services for our customers. Companies House has experienced substantial change in recent years as our role has expanded. Therefore, our strategic objective is to evolve our culture and conditions to enable our people to perform at their best and be fulfilled in their roles.

In 2026 to 2027 we will:

1. Strengthen our workforce planning capability to anticipate future skills needs, build sustainable talent pipelines and make evidence based resourcing decisions that support long term organisational priorities and deliver maximum value for money.
2. Take a disciplined and accountable approach to resourcing, ensuring we use public funds responsibly while maintaining an efficient and agile workforce.
3. Build leadership capability at every level, including through a focused management development programme. We will equip our people to lead inclusively, work collaboratively, adapt to changing needs, and stay focused on achieving the right outcomes, ensuring our organisation is high performing and confident in managing change.
4. Champion equality, diversity and inclusion by fostering a fair, respectful and inclusive culture across Companies House: one that genuinely reflects and values the identities, backgrounds and perspectives of our people. We will embed these commitments into how we design and deliver our recruitment and outreach activity, engaging underrepresented communities and widening access to opportunities across Companies House.

6. Measures of success

Our public targets are the most significant measures of success this year. They are agreed with the Minister and published in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords in their name.

This year our public targets for 2026 to 2027 are:

1. Companies House will continue to score above average for the public sector, in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index.
2. Digital services are available for a minimum of 99.5% of the time.
3. All incoming calls to our contact centre wait for no longer than 5 minutes in the call queue, on average.
4. Using the Registrar’s powers, Companies House will take at least 225,000 actions to tackle abuse and improve the integrity of the Register.
5. By the end of the financial year, all companies will have met identity verification (IDV) requirements linked to their confirmation statement or be on an appropriate pathway to compliance or enforcement action.
6. Deliver 4% efficiency, in comparison to 2025 to 2026 controllable spend.

Our public targets are supported by a wider suite of measures that we track and report throughout the year to our Executive Committee, Main Board and our Minister.

We publish a comprehensive review of our performance in our annual report and accounts. Additional information is available from Companies House official statistics and other public data sets.

Reports on the implementation and operation of parts 1 to 3 of the ECCT Act 2023 are laid in Parliament.

7. Funding the plan

Companies House is primarily funded through fees which are charged for our services. We use income from our fees to incorporate companies and publish accessible company information worth billions of pounds to the UK economy.

Fee income also contributes to the cost of additional activities undertaken by Companies House to perform the Registrars’ new roles and functions under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, and by the Insolvency Service in connection to the performance of those functions.

Fees are set on a cost recovery basis. This means that our fees must cover the cost of the services we deliver. We do not intentionally make a surplus on our fees. 

Every year we review our fees to ensure they are set at the right level and reflect the cost of delivering our services. Businesses registered with Companies House benefit from limited liability, easier to access credit, more flexibility in raising capital and enhanced credibility. Our fees remain low by international standards.

We also receive funding via DBT to support our Transformation Programme, and for the pursuit of financial penalties where it is considered inappropriate to charge legitimate enterprises for the pursuit of penalties from those that have not complied.

Budget

Delegation	2026 to 2027
Resource	£ million
Transformation and service delivery	-3.3
Filing penalties	4
Late filing penalties	0
DEL programme total	0.7
AME total	12.94
Capital	12
Transformation and service delivery	12

At the time of publishing this plan we are awaiting our formal delegation.