The UK keeps one public register for every company registered in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: Companies House. A name or number search is free and needs no account. It returns the company's status, its registered office, its officers, and - unlike the Hong Kong and mainland registers - its persons with significant control, which is the closest the public record comes to showing who actually owns the company. That ownership line is the reason a UK check is worth running before money moves.
Companies House runs the public register at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Searching by company name or number is free and needs no login. It returns the company number, the registered name, the registered office address, the company status (Active, Dissolved, Liquidation, and a few others), and the date of incorporation.
From the same search you can open the current and historical officers - the directors and, where appointed, the company secretary - and the company's filed accounts and confirmation statements. Most of this is free to view and download; some certified copies carry a small fee.
Keep the date you ran it. A company that was Active last year can be Dissolved today, and a dissolved company cannot legally trade or issue you an invoice.
Since 2016 every UK company has had to keep a register of persons with significant control (PSC). The PSC record is published on Companies House, so for most companies you can see the individuals or entities that hold more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or that otherwise control the company. That is beneficial ownership, in public - more than the Hong Kong or mainland registers publish.
There are limits. The PSC register can sit behind a chain of trusts or nominee arrangements, and some entities file through corporate PSCs that themselves sit in another jurisdiction. A PSC entry is a strong signal, not a definitive map of every layer.
If the company is owned through a foreign parent, the UK record will show that parent, and you would then check the parent where it is registered. The point is that the UK register gives you the next step, in writing, rather than leaving ownership as a blank.
The register answers identity, status, officers and ownership. It does not show bank balances, contracts, whether this company is the one actually shipping your goods, or whether the bank account you were given belongs to the entity on the invoice. Those are answered by the payment details in writing and by the shipment documents, not by Companies House.
It also does not run a sanctions or export-control check. A company can be perfectly registered and still appear on OFAC, the UK, EU, UN or US BIS lists. The ownership line helps you search those lists properly - a name alone is not enough when the control sits one layer up.
| Field | What it proves | What a problem looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Company number | The single identity of the UK entity | No number, or a number that does not match the one on the invoice |
| Company status | Whether the company is still Active or has been dissolved | Status reads Dissolved or in Liquidation while it is still taking orders |
| Date of incorporation | How long the entity has existed | A company incorporated weeks ago invoicing a large first order |
| Officers | The current directors and secretary | Directors whose names do not appear on any document you were sent |
| Registered office | The address on file | An address shared by many unrelated companies, or none matching where business is done |
| Persons with significant control | Who ultimately owns or controls the company | A PSC entry that names another entity you then have to trace, or a control structure the filings do not explain |
| The five official lists | Whether the entity or its officers appear on sanctions or export-control lists | A name match on OFAC, UK, EU, UN or US BIS, checked against the ownership you just read |
The registry answers identity, status, officers and ownership. It does not answer intent or payment safety. Run the list check against the names the ownership record surfaced, and compare the bank account to the entity that issued the invoice.
The search and most document downloads are free and need no account. A small fee applies to certified or paper copies of some documents. You do not need to register to check whether a company exists and who controls it.
For most companies, yes, through the persons with significant control (PSC) register, which is published on Companies House. It shows individuals or entities with more than 25% of shares or voting rights or other control. It can be behind nominee or trust arrangements, so read it as a strong signal rather than a complete map of every layer.
No. It confirms identity, status and ownership, not whether the bank account belongs to that entity or whether the company is on a sanctions list. Run the list check separately, and compare the payment details to the registered name.