Companies House free data

Companies House is to make all of its digital data available free of charge as part of government moves to improve corporate transparency by offering an open register of business information say Harris & Co accountants Northampton #accountantsnorthampton

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) says customers spent £8.7m accessing company information on the register via the Companies House website in 2013-2014.

The change will come into effect from the second quarter of 2015, when any public information on the register that is delivered through digital channels will be available free of charge.

This will include basic information about a company, accounts,appointments and charges, and other events in a company’s life that are registered at Companies House. Electronic images will also be available free of charge. Any services in which Companies House has to manually intervene will continue to be chargeable.

BIS said the move formed part of the UK’s efforts to improve corporate transparency which formed a key strand of the G8 declaration at the Lough Erne summit in 2013. Related to this, on 16 July Parliament is debating the second reading of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill 2014-15 which includes plans for a new, public register of everyone who owns companies registered in the UK.