Limited company search

What a limited company is

A limited company has its own legal identity. It can hold contracts, owe money and be sued in its own name, and the liability of its members is limited. That separation is exactly why confirming the entity matters: a contract with a company is not a contract with the individual behind it.

Most UK limited companies are private companies limited by shares and use the suffix Limited or Ltd. Others are limited by guarantee, common among clubs, charities and membership bodies, and a smaller number are public limited companies using PLC.

• Private company limited by shares — Limited or Ltd
• Private company limited by guarantee — often no share capital
• Public limited company — PLC, may offer shares to the public
• Limited liability partnership — LLP, a separate structure with members
• Community interest company — CIC, with an asset lock

What a limited company search shows free

• 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

Telling similar limited companies apart

Names repeat. Group structures, rebrands and dormant reservations mean several entities can share nearly the same name, and picking the wrong one is the most common mistake in a company search.

• Use the registration number — it is unique and never changes
• Compare registered office addresses against the address you were given
• Check the incorporation date against how long the business claims to have traded
• Look for a dissolved status on an otherwise perfect name match
• Check previous names, because rebrands keep the same number

Limited company status and what it means

• Active — on the register and not dissolved
• Dissolved — no longer exists as a legal entity
• Liquidation — a formal insolvency process is recorded
• Administration — under the control of an administrator
• Proposal to strike off — a step towards removal from the register

Limits of the register

The register is a record of filings, not an audit. Companies House does not verify most of what it receives, filings can be late, and a company can be active on paper while doing nothing at all.

Company Search UK is an independent service. It is not Companies House, it is not part of the UK Government, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by either. The same underlying public data is available directly from Companies House free of charge. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

When a downloadable report helps

If you need the wider picture for a limited company — who its officers are, who controls it, whether charges are registered against it and how its filings stand — the optional PDF report brings those sections together in one dated document.

• 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

• UK Company SearchFree UK company search by name or company number. View company status, registered office, incorporation date, company type and SIC codes from the Companies House public register.
• UK Business SearchSearch UK businesses on the Companies House register. Confirm the registered entity behind a trading name, check its status and see registered office details free of charge.
• 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 Active?Check whether a UK company is still active on the Companies House register. Understand active, dormant, dissolved, liquidation and strike-off statuses and what each one means for you.
• 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.