Make the right connections with the right businesses

Companies House tells us that the register is accessed over 6 billion times a year by businesses and individuals checking other companies, suppliers, existing and prospective clients, as well as to carry out financial due diligence... so keeping your records up to date ensures that you’re going to make the right connections with the right businesses.

A report commissioned by Companies House and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) estimates the value of Companies House data at up to £3 billion per year. The report also sets out how the data benefits businesses, consumers and wider society.

There are currently more than 4 million companies on the register and more than 600,000 new companies are incorporated each year, with regular access to Companies House information with half accessing data either every day or several times a week, while the other half accessing it a few times a month.

How the information is used

Companies House reports that users are typically looking at information on both current and potential clients, to find out about other companies and suppliers, check on existing and prospective clients, that accounts have been filed as planned and to get information on companies that we’re involved with, and carrying out financial due diligence on them as well as looking for companies to do business with.

Two key benefits emerged as the main benefits for accessing company information, namely, making better decisions about suppliers and/or customers and time savings to organisations due to accessing current, readily-available information.

What’s available

You can get free details about a company using the Companies House Service, including:

• Company information, such as registered address and date of incorporation
• Current and resigned officers
• Document images
• Mortgage charge data
• Previous company names
• Insolvency information.

Making changes

Changes to your registered office, directors and company secretaries, people with significant control (PSC) information and changes to personal details can all be made quickly and easily online.

Follow a company

Companies House now offers a free email alert service so you can keep track of approvals to anything a company files. Find out more about following a company on their website.

With company data being accessed on a regular basis it’s important to keep your company records up to date... you never know who’s checking.