| Register | Companies House, public and free to search online |
| PSC | usually more than 25% of shares or votes, the right to appoint a majority of directors, or significant influence |
| Identity verification | a legal requirement for directors and PSCs since 18 November 2025 |
| New PSCs | personal code on registration or within 14 days |
| Home country | may have its own beneficial ownership register that reaches foreign companies with a local link |
| Updated | November 2026 |
Companies House: company register and ownership register in one
Look for the company register in England, Great Britain or the UK and you end up at Companies House. It is the registrar of companies and keeps the register for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is no court or notary in between: filings go straight to the registrar, and searches happen online.
Companies House makes all public data available free of charge, without signing in. You find the name, number, registered office, date of incorporation, current and former directors, registered charges, insolvency information and the full filing history. Document images from 2003 onwards are free; older paper documents that first need scanning cost £3 each. With the free Follow service you get an email whenever a company files something. For due diligence before a deal, that is gold.
There is no separate register extract in the continental sense. The company overview and the filed documents are the extract. Where a certified document is needed abroad, we obtain it for you.
Who is a person with significant control?
A person with significant control (PSC) is someone who owns or controls a company, in other words its beneficial owner. Under the Companies House guidance, a PSC is usually someone who holds more than 25 per cent of the shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove a majority of the directors, or otherwise has significant influence or control.
PSC details are part of the incorporation filing. Every change must be notified to Companies House. If a company cannot identify a PSC, or has none, it must report that too. In the UK system a gap is not an option; it is itself a filing.
The size of the holding is not reported to the decimal point but in bands: more than 25 up to and including 50 per cent, more than 50 and less than 75 per cent, 75 per cent or more. The PSC's home address is not published; a service address appears instead. If you are allocating roles on a new company, the basics are in PLC Formation.
What is filed about a PSC
The company agrees these details with the PSC before they go to Companies House. The home address is collected but not published.
- Name and date of birth
- Nationality and country of residence
- Service address
- Home address, not public
- Date the person became a PSC, and date of confirmation
- Each nature of control that applies, with the band of shares and voting rights
Identity verification: mandatory since November 2025
Identity verification with Companies House became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. That date was not a cliff edge but the start of a 12-month transition for existing directors and PSCs. Anyone who passes receives a personal Companies House code. Directors give it with the next confirmation statement, or in the incorporation filing for a new company. Without verified directors, the company can no longer file its confirmation statement.
PSCs registered after 18 November 2025 give their code on registration or within 14 days. For owners abroad, the practical route is often an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). Verification through an ACSP works from any country, but the ACSP must be registered with a UK anti-money laundering supervisor.
Every company used to keep its own PSC register as well. The relevant chapter of the Companies Act 2006 was repealed with effect from 18 November 2025 by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. What counts now are the details held at Companies House. A PLC's other registers, above all the register of members, remain mandatory.
Your home country may want a filing too
Here is the point that catches people out. A UK company's ownership is on the UK register, but that is not always the end of it. Many countries run their own beneficial ownership registers, and some of them reach foreign companies that have a local link, for example property in that country or business carried on there. Whether your UK company triggers a filing at home, or in another country where it holds assets, depends on that country's rules.
For a PLC used as a holding company with property or subsidiaries abroad, this is not an edge case. The filings in other countries and the details at Companies House should match. We line up the UK side and work with your adviser at home on theirs.
Questions about the PSC register and the UK company register
What does a UK company register extract cost?
Companies House data is free to view online, and so are document images from 2003. Only older paper documents that need scanning cost £3 each.
When am I a PSC of a UK company?
Usually once you hold more than 25 per cent of the shares or votes, can appoint or remove a majority of the directors, or otherwise have significant influence.
Will my home address be published?
No. Companies House publishes a service address for PSCs; the home address stays private.
As a PSC living abroad, do I have to travel to the UK to verify my identity?
No. Besides the online route through GOV.UK One Login, you can have the check done through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, from any country.
Sources: GOV.UK: Searching the Companies House register; GOV.UK: People with significant control (PSCs); GOV.UK: Verifying your identity for Companies House; GOV.UK: Verify your identity for Companies House; GOV.UK: When you need to verify your identity for Companies House; legislation.gov.uk: Companies Act 2006, section 790M (annotations)
