Companies House is the UK registrar of limited companies. It maintains the public register and handles company filings such as incorporation, confirmation statements, and annual accounts.
Companies House is the UK government agency that registers and regulates limited companies.
It maintains the public register of companies, where information about a business, its directors, shareholders, and filed accounts is published.
If you trade through a limited company, you will deal with Companies House from incorporation onwards. You must register within three months of starting to trade, and keep your company details up to date.
As a director, your main ongoing responsibilities include:
Companies House is separate from HMRC, which handles tax. You will need to register with both when you set up a limited company, and you may also need to register for Corporation Tax.
Much of what you file becomes public. That is worth bearing in mind if you would rather keep financial detail private. From April 2028, small companies and micro-entities will need to file profit and loss accounts too, though there will be an option to opt out of publishing them on the register.
Recent reforms, including identity verification for directors and stricter filing rules under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, are aimed at reducing fraud on the register. They also mean more admin for legitimate small businesses.
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