UK company extract: how to verify a British company with Companies House

In short: the equivalent of the Italian company extract (visura camerale) for an English company is the profile on Companies House, the UK register, which is consulted online. Gov.uk states that some data is free, including registered address, incorporation date, directors, filed documents and insolvency information. It does not say, however, whether the company appears on sanctions lists or in adverse media. For that, Veryfy's Foreign Company Check (€14.90) adds to the register a check on sanctions, PEPs and adverse media.

How do you get an extract of a UK company?

There is no 'extract' to order: open the official service Find and update company information, reachable from gov.uk, and search for the company by name or by its company number, the 8-character registration number.

If an English supplier has only given you a name, ask for the company number: names look alike, numbers do not. On the profile you will find these sections: Overview, Filing history, People, Persons with significant control, Charges, Insolvency, More.

On the gov.uk site, the page 'Get information about a company' lists what can be obtained for free:

• information about the company, for example registered address and incorporation date;
• directors and other officers, current and former;
• images of the filed documents;
• registered charges (mortgage charges);
• the company's former names;
• insolvency information.

On the profile you can also read the SIC code, which indicates what business the company does, and the persons with significant control (PSC). The SIC code and the PSCs are data that the company must report to Companies House when it registers, according to gov.uk's instructions. They are statements by the company, not checks by third parties.

Is Companies House free? When you pay

Consulting the data above is free. You pay if you want a certificate or a certified copy of a document: according to gov.uk, read on 29/10/2026, the standard service costs £22 and, for incorporation documents, £44; the express service costs £65 and £130. For a preliminary check on a supplier you usually do not need these: the online profile is enough.

Note the limit: Companies House certificates cannot include information on PSCs, shareholders, shares or share capital. That data, where present, is read on the profile.

Ltd, LLP: what kind of company are you dealing with?

Profiles show different forms. According to gov.uk's guides:

• Private limited company (Ltd): has limited liability, meaning the owners are liable for the debts only up to the value of their investment. It may be limited by shares or by guarantee.
• Limited liability partnership (LLP): has at least 2 members; members are not personally liable for debts that the business cannot pay.
• Limited partnership: has at least one general partner and one limited partner, with different levels of liability.

Do not confuse a Ltd with a sole trader: the latter is a separate form, with different rules.

What Companies House does NOT tell you (and the signals to read)

The register shows that the company exists and what it has filed. It does not tell you whether it is reliable as a counterparty, nor whether it appears on international sanctions lists or in adverse news. As with an Italian company extract, the same distinction applies as in company extract or solvency report: the register describes, it does not assess.

Some signals to look into on the profile, none of which is proof in itself:

• Dormant accounts. According to gov.uk, a company is dormant for Companies House if it had no significant transactions in the financial year. If your counterparty presents a large order, ask yourself why the accounts say otherwise.
• Micro-entity or abridged accounts. Small companies and micro-entities may file simplified accounts: gov.uk notes that abridged accounts make less information about the company public. Less readable data means you need to ask your counterparty for more.
• Late accounts. Filing of annual accounts and of the confirmation statement are legal obligations: if they are missing or late, it is a signal to clarify.
• Recent changes of directors or address. These are notifications the company must make to Companies House: a frequent change deserves a question.
• Newly incorporated company. With no accounts filed there is nothing to read: assess advances and payment terms accordingly, as in new supplier without filed accounts.
• Registered address. Check that it matches the one on the invoice and the contract. Gov.uk only says that the registered address is public: it does not tell you whether an office actually exists there.

If you need to know who really controls the company beyond the declared data, see how to verify who really controls a company.

Do you have an English contract to sign or a deposit to pay? First check sanctions and adverse media as well: Foreign Company Check, €14.90, single payment.

What does Veryfy's Foreign Company Check add?

The Foreign Company Check (€14.90, single payment, report in Italian) takes the UK company number or VAT number and returns, in a single check:

• the data from the country's register: name, identifiers, registered office, business status, incorporation date;
• business sector (NACE classification) and contact details, if registered;
• summary accounts available: employees, revenue, net worth, total assets;
• a search by company name against international sanctions lists, politically exposed persons and adverse media.

What it does not include: shareholders, beneficial owners and protests. For those, for an English company, the Companies House profile remains the source (PSC and officers).

Companies House free or Foreign Company Check: the comparison

What you are looking for	Companies House (free)	Foreign Company Check (€14.90)
Registered address and incorporation date	Yes	Yes (registered office and incorporation date)
Business status	Yes, on the profile	Yes
Directors, current and former	Yes	No
Persons with significant control (PSC)	Yes, on the profile	No
Filed documents, charges, insolvency	Yes	No
Summary accounts (employees, revenue, net worth, total assets)	In the filed documents, to be read	Yes, if available, in summary
Sanctions lists, PEPs, adverse media	No	Yes, by name
Language	English	Italian

The two tools do not replace each other: the profile gives the detail on people and documents, while the Veryfy check adds the sanctions and adverse media screening and summarises the accounts in Italian.

What if you need to check a UK director?

The Foreign Person Check (€9.90) searches first name, last name and, if available, date of birth against international sanctions lists and PEP lists. It does not return register data on the person: appointments and linked companies are read on Companies House. The date of birth helps to tell apart people with the same name.

How do I verify a UK VAT number?

Gov.uk offers the service 'Check a UK VAT number': it checks whether a British VAT number is valid and shows the name and address of the business it is registered to. You need the number: the service does not allow searching by name. For European Union numbers, the same page refers to the VIES system.

A valid VAT number says nothing about solvency or sanctions. For that, the rest of the check is needed.

Sources

• GOV.UK, Get information about a company, read on 29/10/2026.
• Find and update company information, read on 29/10/2026.
• GOV.UK, Order certified documents and certificates from Companies House, read on 29/10/2026.
• GOV.UK, Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company and Dormant companies and associations, read on 29/10/2026.
• Set up a private limited company, Set up and run a limited liability partnership (LLP) and Set up and run a limited partnership, read on 29/10/2026.
• GOV.UK, Check a UK VAT number, read on 29/10/2026.

Before paying a supplier or signing with a UK company, read its Companies House profile and then complete it with the Foreign Company Check at €14.90: register, sanctions, PEPs and adverse media in a single check, in Italian and with a single payment.