UK business search

Businesses and companies are not the same thing

The Companies House register covers registered companies and similar bodies. It does not cover every business operating in the UK. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are businesses, but they are not registered companies, so they will not appear in a search here at all.

That is not a gap in this site — it is how the register works. If a business cannot be found, the most common explanations are that it is a sole trader, that it trades under a name different from its registered name, or that the spelling differs from what you typed.

• Included: private limited companies (Ltd), public limited companies (PLC)
• Included: limited liability partnerships (LLP) and limited partnerships
• Included: community interest companies and other registered bodies
• Not included: sole traders
• Not included: ordinary partnerships that have not registered

Trading names versus registered names

A company can trade under any name it likes. The registered name is the legal one and the only one on the register, so a search for a brand or shopfront name may return nothing even though the company exists.

When a trading name draws a blank, look for the legal name in small print: the footer of a website, the bottom of an invoice, terms and conditions, or an email signature. UK companies must show their registered name and number on business correspondence, which is usually where you will find it.

What you can confirm free about a UK business

• 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

Common reasons for a business search

• Confirming the legal entity before raising or paying an invoice
• Checking a supplier or contractor exists on the register before a deposit
• Matching a quote from a brand name to the company behind it
• Onboarding a new customer and recording their registered details
• Checking an entity named on a lease, contract or purchase order
• Researching who else a business is connected with

Where the information comes from

Results are retrieved live from the Companies House public register through the official public data service.

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 the optional PDF report is useful

If your business search is part of onboarding a supplier or filing a client record, a dated document is easier to keep than a screenshot. The optional UK Company Information Report gathers the wider register sections into one A4 PDF 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

• 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.
• 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.
• Search by Company NameSearch UK companies by name. Handle partial names, similar names, changed names and trading names, and confirm you have the right registered entity before you deal with it.
• 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.
• Company reportsThe optional downloadable PDF report and what it costs.
• Companies House SearchSearch company information from the Companies House public register by name or company number. Independent service with free company summaries and an optional formatted PDF report.