Companies House
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| Executive agency overview | |
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| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | Companies House, Cardiff |
| Executive agency executives |
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| Parent department | Department for Business, Innovation and Skills |
| Website | www |
Companies House is the United Kingdom's registrar of companies and is an executive agency and trading fund of Her Majesty's Government. It falls under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BIS) and is also a member of the Public Data Group. All forms of companies (as permitted by the United Kingdom Companies Act) are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the current Companies Act 2006. All registered limited companies, including subsidiary, small and inactive companies, must file annual financial statements in addition to annual company returns, which are all public records. Only some registered unlimited companies (meeting certain conditions) are exempt from this requirement.
The United Kingdom has had a system of company registration since 1844. The legislation governing company registration matters is the Companies Act 2006.
The permitted the incorporation of , previously only possible by the mechanisms of royal charter or private act, which had meant few companies were formed. The act therefore required that all companies formed under it were recorded on a public register, and created the office of to be responsible for maintaining the register.
Company registration in Scotland commenced in 1856, with the first company registered being 'The Daily Bulletin Limited'. The first Registrar of Joint Stock Companies for Scotland was George Deane from 1856 to 1858, before he was transferred to the London office of Companies House to be Chief Clerk to the Registrar for England and Wales.
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