Audit1This article is general information about public company records. Audit1 is not a statutory audit, a regulated assurance engagement or a substitute for professional verification.
Looking up a company once gives you a snapshot. Records change, though, and keeping an eye on them is a different task from reading them once. GOV.UK points to a free feature that helps: email alerts that tell you when a company updates its details.
What GOV.UK says is available
GOV.UK says you can get some details about a company for free through the online company information service. The page lists the company's registered address and date of incorporation, current and resigned officers, images of filed documents, mortgage charge data, previous company names and insolvency information. It also says you can set up free email alerts to tell you when a company updates its details, for example a change of director or address.
Why alerts are useful for record-keeping
If you are keeping notes on a company, an alert is a prompt to go back and read the record again. It saves you from checking at random, and it helps you date your own notes: you know a change appeared after one date and before another. Pair every alert with a short, dated note saying what you looked at and what you saw.
What an alert does not do
An alert tells you that something changed on the record. It does not tell you whether the change is accurate, complete or sensible. Information on a public register is information that has been filed, which is not the same as information that has been checked. Reading the new filing, and comparing it with what you already hold, is still your job.
A simple routine
- Note the company name and number, and the date you first looked.
- Record the key details you saw: registered address, officers and any other fields relevant to your question.
- Set up the free alerts for the company.
- When an alert arrives, open the record, read the new entry and write a dated note of what changed.
- If a decision depends on the detail, ask a qualified professional to verify it.
Limits to remember
The GOV.UK page describes a free service and a list of items you can view. It does not promise that every detail relevant to your question will be available, or that records are verified. Treat the register as a starting point for your research, with each fact tied to a date and a source.
Audit1 provides information only. This is not an audit, assurance or legal advice, and it does not replace professional verification.