There is a significant amount of information that can be obtained from Companies House. Companies House is responsible for incorporating and dissolving limited companies, examining and storing company information and making company information available to the public.

Much of the company information available can be accessed free of charge. This is in line with the Government’s commitment to free data and means that all publicly available digital data held on the UK register of companies is accessible in this way. These records provide access to over 170 million digital records on companies and directors.

This includes:

• company information, for example registered address and date of incorporation
• current and resigned officers
• document images
• mortgage charge data
• previous company names
• insolvency information

There is also a service called WebCHeck. This allows you to view a company's filing history and purchase copies of document images as well as a selection of company reports. You can also elect to monitor a company and receive email alerts of any new documents filed at Companies House. This can be a useful thing to sign up for as this would help you ensure there are no unexpected filings made for your own company.