COMPANY HOUSE LIST OF LIMITED COMPANIES UK

What a Companies House List of Limited Companies Means

Companies House maintains the UK register of companies, including private limited companies, public limited companies, limited liability partnerships and other registered entities. A list of limited companies is therefore not one single static page, but data extracted from the official register.

Search Limited Companies Online

The Companies House “Find and update company information” service allows users to search by company name, company number or officer name. This is the simplest way to check whether a specific LTD company exists and review its public register profile.

Download a List of UK Limited Companies

Companies House also provides free downloadable company data. This is useful when users need a broader list of live companies, market research data, supplier screening files, CRM enrichment or a starting point for company verification at scale.

Information Delivered by a Companies House Limited Company List

The available information can show the following essentials, depending on the service or dataset used:

• Company name;
• Company number;
• Company type, such as private limited company;
• Registered office address;
• Company status;
• Date of incorporation;
• Standard Industrial Classification codes;
• Filing history where searched individually;
• Accounts and confirmation statements where available;
• Current and resigned officers where searched individually;
• Persons with significant control where available;
• Charges and mortgage data where available;
• Previous company names where applicable;
• Insolvency information where applicable.

Limited Companies vs All Registered Companies

A Companies House search can include more than limited companies. The register also contains public limited companies, LLPs, overseas companies, community interest companies and other entity types. A proper limited-company list should therefore filter by company type where possible.

Private Limited Companies in the UK

A private limited company is commonly identified by “Limited” or “Ltd” in its name. It is a separate legal entity with a company number, registered office, directors, shareholders and filing obligations, although shareholder details may require deeper document review.

Using Advanced Search

Companies House advanced search helps users narrow results by filters such as company type, company status, incorporation date, accounts, confirmation statements and other criteria. This makes it more useful than a simple name search when building a targeted list.

Using the Free Company Data Product

The free company data product provides a monthly downloadable snapshot of basic company data for live companies on the register. It is supplied in ZIP files containing CSV data and can be used for bulk analysis or database import.

Why the Data Product Is Not a Full Due Diligence File

The downloadable data product provides basic company data, not a complete due diligence report. For a serious check, each company should still be reviewed individually through Companies House for filing history, officers, charges, PSCs, insolvency information and documents.

Checking Company Status

Company status is essential when using a list. A company may be active, dissolved, in liquidation, in administration or subject to other register events. A list without status verification can easily include unsuitable or risky entities.

Checking Registered Office Address

The registered office address helps identify the official contact address of the company. It must be compared with invoices, contracts, websites and payment records, because fraudsters may use similar names, forwarding addresses or unrelated business premises.

Checking Directors and Officers

A company list may identify the company, but the individual register profile is needed to review current and resigned officers. Directors and officers help confirm who manages the company, although signing authority may still require board or contractual evidence.

Checking PSC Information

Persons with significant control help identify people or entities that own or control the company. PSC information is important for KYC, AML, ownership analysis and group mapping, but it should be checked carefully against filings and corporate documents.

Checking Filing History

Filing history reveals accounts, confirmation statements, director changes, registered office changes, charges, name changes and other filings. This section is often more useful than the company list itself when assessing credibility and ongoing compliance.

Using a Company List for B2B Prospecting

A Companies House list can support B2B prospecting, sector mapping, supplier sourcing, competitor research and market analysis. It should be enriched with website, phone, trading activity and sector data, because the register is primarily a legal database.

Using a Company List for Compliance

For compliance teams, a limited-company list can help build onboarding files, verify legal existence, confirm company numbers, detect dissolved entities and prepare screening against sanctions, adverse media, financial regulator registers and internal risk databases.

Common Risks in Companies House Lists

Common risks include outdated downloaded data, dissolved companies, dormant companies, recently incorporated shell companies, misleading names, missing trading information, officer changes, address mismatches, filing delays and confusion between legal name and trading brand.

Key Provider for UK Limited Company Lists

Companies House — Find, Search and Download UK Company Information

Website: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/

Companies House is the official UK source for company-register information. Users can search individual companies, review public register profiles and access official data products when they need broader company datasets for analysis, verification or business research.