Companies House director search

How director information is recorded

Companies House records officers against the company, not the other way round. Every UK company must keep its officer details up to date, and the register keeps historical entries so you can see who held a role and when.

Directors are one type of officer. Companies also appoint secretaries, and limited liability partnerships have members rather than directors. All appear in the officer section of the register.

• Officer name as filed, with any recorded title
• Role — director, secretary, LLP member and so on
• Appointment date, and resignation date where applicable
• Occupation and nationality where recorded
• Month and year of birth for directors — never the full date publicly
• Correspondence address, which is usually a service address

What you can find free on this site

The free company summary confirms the entity itself. Officer details are part of the optional PDF report on this site, and are also published free by Companies House directly.

• 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

Directors are not the same as owners

A director runs the company. An owner holds shares or otherwise controls it. They are often the same people in a small company, but not always, and the register keeps them in separate sections.

If your real question is who controls the company, the persons with significant control record is the place to look, and our guides to finding who owns a UK company and checking PSC records explain how that works.

Why people search for directors

• Confirming who is authorised to sign for a company
• Checking who was in charge at the time of a past contract or dispute
• Understanding how a group of related companies is run
• Recording officer details in an onboarding or supplier file
• Following a change of control after a company changed hands

Limits worth knowing

• Directors' full dates of birth and home addresses are not published in full
• Different people can share a name — check dates and companies before concluding
• Appointments can be filed late, so recent changes may not appear yet
• The register does not record informal influence, only formal appointments
• Nothing here is a disqualification check, which is a separate register

Getting officer details in a document

The optional UK Company Information Report lists current and former officers with appointment and resignation dates where recorded, alongside ownership, filing position and charges, in one dated PDF.

• 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

• Find Company DirectorsHow to find the directors and secretaries of a UK company, what officer information the public register holds, and how to read appointment and resignation dates.
• Who Owns a UK CompanyHow UK company ownership is recorded on the public register, the difference between directors, shareholders and persons with significant control, and how to look it up.
• Check Company PSCWhat persons with significant control means, which conditions make someone a PSC, and how to check the PSC information recorded for a UK company.
• Company Details SearchFind the registered details of a UK company: legal name, registration number, status, incorporation date, company type, registered office and SIC codes, 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.