How to check a company director before a business commitment.

Start with the correct public record

The Companies House register can be searched by company name, company number or officer name. Make sure you have identified the intended company and person before drawing conclusions from the result.

Compare the record with what you have been told

Note the business names, roles and relevant relationships described in the proposal. Identify gaps or apparent inconsistencies as questions to check, not as proof of misconduct.

Define what matters to this decision

The relevant questions may concern a person's business background, connected companies, ownership interests or a relationship that has not been clearly explained. The right scope depends on the proposed transaction and the risk you are considering.

Know when to discuss further enquiries

Where a significant investment or partnership depends on unanswered questions, discuss whether investigative due diligence could help. Ask what information can appropriately be obtained, how findings will be presented and what may remain uncertain.

ASE's role

ASE considers background and company enquiries within an agreed commercial scope. This work does not replace legal advice, an audit or a financial assessment of the proposed transaction.

Searching the Companies House register step by step

To check a company director, start with the company, then look at the people who run it.

A director's entry usually shows their name, month and year of birth, nationality, country of residence, occupation and a correspondence address, with the dates of each appointment. For a basic director check, the appointment history is often the most useful part.

• →Search the Companies House register by company name or company number.
• →Open the correct company from the results, and check the company number and registered office address against what you have been told.
• →Open the company's list of officers to see its current and former directors and secretaries.
• →Select an officer's name to see the other appointments linked to that record, with their start and end dates.
• →If you only have a name, search for officers instead, and check that each result matches the person you mean.

Checking whether a director is disqualified

A disqualified director is barred, for a set period, from acting as a director or taking part in running a company. The public register of disqualified directors can be searched, and it shows current disqualifications and how long each one lasts.

It is worth checking even when nothing else looks unusual. If a disqualified person is in practice running the company you are dealing with, that is a serious concern for the company and may affect you too.

Checking who owns or controls a company

Directors run a company, but they do not necessarily own it. To see who owns or controls it, look at the persons with significant control, usually shortened to PSC, on the company's Companies House record.

Broadly, a person with significant control holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, or otherwise has significant influence or control over the company. Compare the PSC information with what you have been told about who stands behind the business.

If the person with significant control is another company, follow the chain upward. Ownership that runs through several entities, particularly overseas ones, is not automatically suspicious, but it is a reason to look more closely before committing.

What the Companies House register will not tell you

The register records what has been filed. It does not answer many of the questions that could change a commercial decision, and whether those gaps matter depends on what you are deciding.

• →Whether the person you are dealing with is the person named on the record
• →Who ultimately stands behind the company, where ownership is held through nominees or overseas structures
• →Judgments, litigation or disputes the person has been party to
• →Criminal convictions, which do not appear on the register
• →The person's own financial position, as distinct from the company's filed accounts
• →Directorships held overseas, or under a different spelling or name
• →Connections to suppliers, competitors or other parties in your transaction that have not been disclosed
• →Where the money behind the company came from

How do I check if someone is a company director?

Search the Companies House register for the company and open its list of officers, or search the officer records directly by name. The record shows whether the person holds a current appointment, when it started and the other appointments linked to the same record.

Is checking a company director free?

Searching the Companies House register is free, and you do not need an account to do it. The register of disqualified directors can also be searched free of charge. Enquiries beyond the public record are a separate piece of work, and their scope and fees should be agreed before they begin.

How do I check if a director is disqualified?

Search the public register of disqualified directors. It lists current disqualifications and the period each one runs for. Make sure the result relates to the same person before drawing conclusions.

How do I find out who owns a UK company?

Look at the persons with significant control on the company's Companies House record. Broadly, this identifies anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, or otherwise exercising significant influence or control. If the person with significant control is another company, follow the chain upward.

Does Companies House show a director's date of birth?

Only the month and year. The full date of birth is not shown on the public register.

Can I see a director's home address?

Usually not. The address shown is normally a service address for correspondence, so it should not be treated as confirmation of where someone lives.