Reading Companies House like an investor: what the filings tell you in ten minutes
What to look at on a company's record and its directors' records, how to read a confirmation statement, charges, and accounts, what the new identity-verification flag means, and the patterns that should make you ask a question.
Every UK company's public record is free, live and mostly ignored by angels, who read the deck instead. The deck is the founder's story; Companies House is the evidence. Find shows the key data on every listing; here is how to read the whole record in ten minutes, and what to ask when something looks off.
The company overview
- Incorporated. How old the company is, against how old the founder says the business is. A 2019 company with "we started last year" means a dormant period, a pivot, or a previous business in the same shell.
- Status and filings. Active, and accounts and confirmation statement not overdue. Overdue filings in a company asking for your money is a question about how it is run.
- Registered office. An accountant's address is normal. A residential address is normal at pre-seed.
- SIC codes. Should match what the company says it does. Mismatch is usually laziness; occasionally it is a different business.
Officers
Each director's page lists every appointment, current and resigned. You are looking for: the number of companies (a founder with six active directorships is not full-time); dissolved companies (ask what happened — most founders have one, and the story matters more than the fact); disqualifications (rare, decisive); and whether the other directors on the listing are actually appointed. Since 2025 officers must verify their identity; the record shows whether they have. An unverified director after the deadline is a compliance gap the company should have closed.
Persons with significant control
Anyone over 25% of shares or votes. Check it matches the cap table on the listing. A PSC nobody mentioned — an early backer, a former partner, a parent company — is the most common thing this page reveals.
The confirmation statement
The annual snapshot, and the only public document that lists shareholders and their holdings (at the statement date). Open the latest as a PDF. Count the shareholders, check the founders' percentages, look for any share class other than ordinary. Then compare with the share allotment filings (SH01) since — each new issue is filed within a month, with the number and price of shares, which tells you the last round's valuation whether or not the founder did.
Charges
Secured lending. A charge from a bank or lender is normal for an established business; ask what it secures and whether it is satisfied. A charge in favour of a director or an individual is a question. A charge registered in the last few months that the listing did not mention is a bigger one.
Accounts
Small companies file abbreviated accounts: a balance sheet, often no profit and loss. Even so: net assets (negative means the company owes more than it owns — common at seed, but you should know), cash at the year end, creditors due within one year (and whether that includes a director's loan), and the accountant's name. Compare the year-end cash with what the listing says the company has now and what it says it burns; the arithmetic should work.
Patterns that should make you ask
- A founder whose previous company was dissolved with unpaid creditors within the last three years.
- A recent change of company name (check "previous names") — sometimes a rebrand, sometimes a fresh start from a reputation.
- Shares issued recently at a much lower price than this round, with no explanation.
- A director's loan that grew every year.
- A registered office at a serviced address with no trading address anywhere.
None of these is a verdict. Each is a question the founder should be able to answer in two sentences. Founders who answer well are the ones you want.
Questions investors ask
"The company was incorporated two months ago. Is that a problem?"
Not for a pre-seed. Then the founders' records are the evidence, and the accounts do not exist yet. It does make SEIS eligible — which is the point.
"What about an LLP?"
LLPs do not issue shares and cannot take SEIS/EIS investment. A raise from an LLP on Find is a loan note or a vehicle; read the instrument.
"Where do I find all this?"
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk, free. Find pulls the overview, officers, charges and filing status onto each listing automatically.