Check if a company is active

What each status means

• Active — the company is on the register and has not been dissolved
• Dissolved — the company no longer exists as a legal entity
• Liquidation — a formal winding-up process is recorded against it
• Administration — an administrator is in control
• Receivership — a receiver has been appointed over assets
• Proposal to strike off — a step towards removal from the register
• Converted or closed — the entity changed form or ceased in another way

Active is not the same as trading

Active only means the company has not been dissolved. Plenty of active companies are dormant, filing the minimum each year while doing no business at all, and a company can remain active for months while heading towards insolvency.

If what you actually need to know is whether a business is operating, the register can support that judgement but cannot answer it. Look at whether accounts and confirmation statements are being filed on time and whether the company appears to be maintained.

What the free summary shows

• Registered company name
• Company registration number
• Company status, such as active or dissolved
• Incorporation date
• Company type
• Jurisdiction
• Registered office address
• Previous company names
• Nature of business and SIC codes

Why dissolved status matters

A dissolved company cannot enter contracts, cannot hold assets and cannot be invoiced. If you are dealing with what turns out to be a dissolved entity, stop and establish who you are actually contracting with before anything else.

• Contracts cannot be made with a dissolved entity
• Payments made to it may be difficult to recover
• Assets it held may have passed to the Crown
• A similarly named active company is not the same legal person

Warning signs worth noticing

• A proposal to strike off recorded while the business still solicits orders
• Overdue accounts or confirmation statements
• A very recent incorporation presented as a long-established business
• An insolvency entry alongside continued trading
• A near-identical active company where the one you were given is dissolved

Recording the status you saw

Status changes, and a screenshot is easy to dispute. The optional PDF report records the status alongside filing position, officers, ownership and charges, with the retrieval date on every page.

• Everything in the free company summary
• Current and former officers, with appointment and resignation dates where recorded
• Persons with significant control recorded on the register
• Accounts and confirmation statement dates and filing position
• Registered charges, and whether they are outstanding or satisfied
• Insolvency information where it exists
• A filing history summary
• A dated, formatted A4 PDF you can download, print, email and keep

Free website search compared with the paid PDF report

Searching this site and viewing a company summary is free. The optional PDF report is paid, and what you are paying for is convenience: retrieval, formatting, a dated snapshot and a document you can download and keep. The underlying information is public and is also available directly from Companies House at no charge.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

• Check Company StatusWhat UK company status values mean, including active, dissolved, liquidation, administration and proposal to strike off, and how to check the status of a company.
• Is a Company Registered?Check whether a company is registered in the UK. Confirm it exists on the Companies House register, see its number, status and registered office, and learn what to do if it is missing.
• Check Filing HistoryHow to read a UK company's filing history, what the common filing types mean, and what a company's filing pattern does and does not tell you.
• Limited Company SearchSearch UK limited companies by name or number. Check whether a Ltd company is active, when it was incorporated, its registered office and its company type, free of charge.
• Company reportsThe optional downloadable PDF report and what it costs.
• Sample Company ReportSee the structure of the UK Company Information Report PDF section by section, page by page, so you know exactly what you receive before you order one.