Search the United Kingdom Company Register by Name
Companies House
Search the Companies House
Search Company Records in United Kingdom
3 free lookups per day. No sign-up required.
How do I search the Companies House company registry?
The Companies House is the official United Kingdom business registry. Search it for free by company name, registration number, or VAT — no signup required — using the lookup above or directly at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house.
- Registry
- Companies House
- Coverage
- All companies registered in United Kingdom
- Cost
- Free for basic lookups
- Data freshness
- Mirrored from the primary source
United Kingdom company records
Every record below has its own page with the registered name, registration number, registered address, legal form and status, plus free change monitoring. Records are mirrored from public open data (GLEIF LEI, CC0), which sources them from the national register.
What Companies House contains, and what it costs
Field coverage, identifier formats and fees, verified against the official sources listed at the end of this section.
What a United Kingdom company record returns
- Registered company name and any previous names
- Company number and incorporation date
- Registered office address
- Company type and SIC codes
- Company status (active, dissolved, liquidation)
- Officers, and persons with significant control (PSC)
- Full filing history and annual accounts
Free versus paid
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Company search, profile, officers, PSC, filing history | Free |
| Filed accounts and documents (PDF) | Free |
| Certified copies and certificates | Paid (from £15) |
| Bulk data and streaming API | Free with an API key |
What a United Kingdom registration number looks like
8 characters — 8 digits, or 2 letters followed by 6 digits
00445790
Leading zeros are part of the number. Scottish companies start SC, Northern Irish NI, LLPs OC or SO.
GB followed by 9 digits
GB232628060
Official sources
- Find and update company information — The official Companies House search service
- Companies House public data API — Free API for company profiles, officers and filings
- Get information about a company (GOV.UK) — Guidance on what is on the register and what it means
Step-by-step guides for United Kingdom
Free how-to walkthroughs — search by name, check directors, get an official extract.
Searches people run for United Kingdom
Each one answers a different question — free, no account needed.
Email me the United Kingdom record as a PDF
FreeA dated, source-cited United Kingdom record you can file against a KYB or vendor-onboarding check. Free — no account needed.
Free. We only use your email to send the document and tell you if the record changes.
United Kingdom — by the numbers
- Records indexed
- 2,591
- Last updated
- 2026-08-04
- Top entity type
- GENERAL
- Cost
- Free
2,544 records
No signup required
Access UK Companies House data for any registered company. Search registration details, filing history, director information, and company status.
Get the full United Kingdom list — free
Sign in with Google to unlock every Companies House record, save searches, and export results.
5M+
Active Companies
1844
Registry Founded
10M+
Filings/Year
Free API
Data Access
Registry Overview
Companies House is the United Kingdom's registrar of companies, holding records for over 5 million active companies. Every limited company, LLP, and certain partnerships in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland must register here. The data is freely accessible and provides essential due diligence information for B2B sales, compliance, and credit checks.
Entity Types
- •Private Limited (Ltd)
- •Public Limited (PLC)
- •Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
- •Community Interest Company (CIC)
- •Sole Trader
- •Scottish LP
Data Available
- ✓Company name and number
- ✓Registered address
- ✓Incorporation date
- ✓Company status (active/dissolved)
- ✓SIC codes (industry)
- ✓Director names and appointments
- ✓Filing history
- ✓Accounts filing deadlines
Free tools for United Kingdom
How to search the Companies House
- 1
Search by company name or number
Companies House accepts either a company name or its 8-character registration number. Numbers are unique and immutable; names can change and may be duplicated across former entities.
- 2
Confirm the entity is active
Status flags include Active, Dormant, Liquidation, and Dissolved. For sales and credit-check workflows, treat Dissolved entities as historical only — their last filed accounts may still be relevant context but the entity itself no longer trades.
- 3
Pull director and PSC data
The People with Significant Control register lists anyone with 25%+ ownership or voting rights. This is the fastest way to map ultimate beneficial owners for KYC and AML checks.
- 4
Download the filing history
Annual accounts, confirmation statements, and capital changes are all timestamped. A spike in capital filings or director appointments is a reliable leading indicator of M&A activity.
Who uses this data
UK Companies House data is used by sales teams qualifying inbound leads, credit-risk teams running due diligence, journalists and researchers tracing ownership networks, and compliance teams meeting AML obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
Access, fees & notes
Basic search and document downloads are free. The full Companies House API is also free with rate limits suitable for most B2B workflows. Bulk data products are available via the Companies House Data Download service.
Cost & access
Online search and digital document downloads are free. Certified paper copies and specific historical data may incur fees.
Local-language glossary
- Confirmation Statement (CS01)
- An annual filing that confirms the company's information is up to date, replacing the older Annual Return (AR01).
- Persons with Significant Control (PSC)
- The UK's register of beneficial owners who hold more than 25% of shares or voting rights.
- Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
- A 5-digit code used to classify the primary business activities of an entity.
- Micro-entity Accounts
- Simplified financial statements filed by very small companies that meet specific turnover and employee thresholds.
Common mistakes to avoid
✗ Relying on the 'Registered Office Address' as the primary trading location.
✓ Check the most recent accounts or director addresses, as many firms use their accountant's address as the registered office.
✗ Confusing the 'Company Number' with a VAT or Tax ID.
✓ Use the 8-digit CRN specifically for registry lookups; VAT numbers are managed by HMRC and are not public on the Companies House search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I look up a UK company?▾
You can search by company name or registration number. Companies House provides free public access to all registered company data including directors, filing history, and accounts. Enter a name above to try it.
Is UK company data free?▾
Yes. Companies House provides free public access to basic company data. Some document downloads (like full accounts PDFs) may carry a small fee, but registration details, director lists, and filing history are entirely free.
What does the company status mean?▾
Active means the company is currently registered and trading. Dormant means it exists but isn't actively trading. Dissolved means it has been struck off the register and no longer legally exists.
Can I find company financial data?▾
Companies House holds all filed accounts. Micro and small companies may file abbreviated or filleted accounts with limited detail. Medium and large companies file full accounts including turnover, profit/loss, and balance sheet data.
How do I search for a company in United Kingdom by name?▾
Type the company name into the search box above. Results come from the Companies House and show the registered name, CRN number, status and registered address. Partial names work — searching "acme" returns every registered entity whose name starts with it.
Is the United Kingdom company register free to search?▾
Yes. Searching by company name or CRN number is free here and on the official United Kingdom register — no account or payment is required for a basic lookup. Certified extracts and filed documents may carry a fee on the official register.
Can I search United Kingdom companies by registration number?▾
Yes. Enter the CRN number instead of the name and the lookup resolves it directly to the matching record, which is the fastest way to confirm an identifier printed on an invoice or contract.
How do I check whether a company is registered in United Kingdom?▾
Search the name or CRN number above. If the business is on the Companies House, the record appears with its registered name and identifier. If nothing is returned, the name as spelled is not on the register — try a partial name or the number printed on the invoice or contract before concluding the business is unregistered.
How can I tell if a United Kingdom company is still active?▾
Each record carries the status the Companies House publishes for that entity. Registration status is a factual register field, not a judgement about the business — for ongoing certainty you can watch a record and be emailed when its registered details change.
How do I find a company's CRN number?▾
Search the company name above. Each result shows its CRN number alongside the registered name, status and address, sourced from the Companies House.
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Decision-makers indexed across United Kingdom companies
Platform-wide: 5,926 decision-makers indexed across 734 companies. Distribution by seniority:
- C-Suite331 · 6%
- VP31 · 1%
- Director173 · 3%
- Manager18 · 0%
- Individual Contributor4,474 · 75%
- Other899 · 15%
Aggregate counts only — no personal information is shown. Data refreshed 2026-07-04.
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Cite this record
LemReveal. (2026). United Kingdom — Companies House Dataset. Source: Companies House. Retrieved September 16, 2026, from https://lemreveal.com/data/united-kingdom
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Measured registry access
- United Kingdom registry access: 100/100
100% of 159 measured searches returned a record
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