The limited company business structure offers numerous advantages, such as financial protection for owners, tax efficiency, and a professional image. However, one downside is that certain information is made publicly accessible on the register.

In this post, we’ll explore what information becomes publicly available upon company formation and show you how we can help protect some of this data from public view.

The Companies House register

A primary function of Companies House is to maintain the company register. Each time a company is formed or a company document is filed, this information is recorded in the register. The goal of this process is to promote transparency.

• Company HopeTex and Companies House

The company register is publicly accessible, allowing anyone to search using a company name, number, or the name of an officer. To begin, let’s explore what information is available when you search using a company name or number. Keep in mind that if you form a company, this is the information that will be visible about you and your business.

‘Overview’

When you perform a search, the following basic company information is immediately displayed:

• Company name
• Company number
• Registered office address
• Company status
• Company type
• Incorporation date
• Next accounts made up to date
• Last accounts made up to date
• Next statement date
• Last statement date
• SIC codes

Among this information, the main privacy concern is the registered office address. Specifically, if a residential address is used as the registered office, it can lead to issues such as receiving junk mail and, more seriously, unwanted visitors. While using a home address as the registered office is allowed, it is generally not recommended.

The registered office can be any UK address you have permission to use (excluding PO Boxes), as long as the company directors have access to any official documents sent to that address. There is no requirement for trading activity to take place at this address.

We can assist with this through our registered office address service, which is included in several of our company formation packages. This service allows you to use our Covent Garden address as your company’s registered office, safeguarding your personal address from public visibility.

‘Filing history’

This section of the search allows you to view PDFs of documents that company officers have submitted to Companies House. The older the company, the more documents you’ll find. Here are some of the documents you can expect to see:

• Incorporation
• Confirmation statement (formerly known as the annual return)
• Accounts
• Director updates (appointments, resignations, and changes)
• Registered office updates

Incorporation documents include basic company information (name, number, registered office, incorporation date, and SIC codes) as well as details about directors, shareholders, and people with significant control (PSCs). A key privacy concern here is addresses. If a director, shareholder, or PSC used their home address when forming the company, it will be visible in these documents.

During the company formation process, you must provide both a residential address and a service address for your director and PSC. While the residential address is not published on the public register, the service address is. If you use a residential address as the service address, it will be displayed publicly.

When selecting your shareholder, you only need to provide one generic address. This address will appear in company documents and be listed on the public register.

We can assist with this by offering company formation packages that include our service address. This allows you to use the Covent Garden address for:

• Director’s service address
• PSC’s service address
• Shareholder’s generic address

This is based on the assumption that one person is fulfilling all these roles. If you need to protect multiple individuals, you will need to purchase an additional service address for each person.

Aside from address-related concerns, the most detailed information will be found in the accounts. If your business is trading, you must disclose certain financial information, which is a standard requirement for limited companies.

‘People’

For every director and PSC in the company, you will see the following:

• Full name
• Correspondence address (service address)
• Role in the company
• Month and year of birth
• Date appointed
• Nationality
• Country of residence
• Occupation
• Nature of control in the company (PSC only)

Again, if you pick up a Company HopeTex that includes the service address, you don’t have to use a residential address as the correspondence address.

That covers what you’ll find if you complete a company search.

Here’s what you’ll see if you search by a person’s name.

Officer search

Completing an officer search can be more complex due to duplicate names on the register. Once you find the correct person, you will see their month and year of birth, along with the following details for all the companies they are involved with:

• Company name
• Company number
• Company status
• Correspondence address used by the officer
• Officer’s role
• Date the officer was appointed

This is the information that becomes publicly accessible when you complete a company formation.

While certain details becoming public is unavoidable, we can assist you in protecting your residential address from the register with:

• Company formation packages
• Our registered office service
• Our service address

If you have any questions, please leave a comment.