Companies House: What It Is and How to Use It (Free)

Companies House is the UK government registry of companies. Every limited company and LLP in the UK is registered here, and most of the information is public and free to search. It's the starting point for checking who you're dealing with — and, combined with The Gazette, the foundation of the data on Insolvency List.

What Companies House does

Companies House is responsible for:

• incorporating and dissolving companies;
• holding statutory information every company must file — directors, registered office, shareholders, accounts and confirmation statements;
• making that information public so anyone can check a company.

It is a registry, not a regulator of how businesses trade — but the records it holds are invaluable for due diligence.

How to search Companies House for free

Go to the Companies House service and search by company name or number. On a company's page you can see:

• Company status — Active, Liquidation, In Administration, Dissolved, etc.
• Registered office and incorporation date.
• Officers — current and former directors and secretaries, with appointment and resignation dates.
• Filing history — every document filed, including accounts and any insolvency documents.
• Charges — mortgages and debentures giving lenders security over the company's assets.
• People with significant control (PSC) — the individuals who ultimately own or control the company.

All of this is free; you only pay for certified copies of certain documents.

Reading the insolvency signals

Companies House won't predict a failure, but several fields are strong signals:

• Status flags. "Liquidation" or "In Administration" confirm a formal insolvency procedure is under way.
• Overdue accounts or confirmation statement. Persistent lateness is one of the most reliable early warning signs of a company in trouble.
• A flurry of new charges. Multiple charges registered in a short period can indicate a company leaning heavily on secured borrowing.
• Frequent director resignations. A sudden exodus from the board can precede difficulty.
• Insolvency documents in the filing history. Appointment of a liquidator or administrator, or a resolution to wind up, will appear here.

Companies House vs The Gazette vs Insolvency List

These three sources complement each other:

• Companies House — the company's full profile: who runs it, what it owns, what it has filed.
• The Gazette — the official, dated notices of insolvency events.
• Insolvency List — combines both into a single searchable feed with a distress timeline per company, filterable by industry and region.

For a quick "is this company insolvent?" check, see our step-by-step guide to checking if a company is insolvent.

Recent changes worth knowing

Companies House has been given new powers in recent years to improve the accuracy of the register — including identity verification for directors and greater ability to query and reject suspicious filings. Over time this should make the register more reliable for due diligence.

Put it together

Checking Companies House takes two minutes and can save you from extending credit to a failing company. Combine it with a search on Insolvency List to catch formal insolvency events the moment they're filed.

*This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Public registers reflect what has been filed; they are not a complete assessment of a company's financial health.*