Finding the right company
Tips for searching the Companies House register accurately, including how to handle similar names and dissolved companies.
The UK company register holds over five million companies, including dissolved ones. This guide explains how to search it effectively and make sure you're adding the right entity.
Search by company number when you can
Company numbers are unique. Searching by name can return many similar results, especially for common business names. If you have the Companies House number (from a contract, an invoice, or a letterhead) use it. It will return exactly one result.
Interpreting search results
Each search result shows:
- Company name – the legal registered name, which may differ from a trading name.
- Company number – the unique identifier. UK company numbers are typically 8 digits. Scottish companies start with SC, Northern Ireland companies start with NI.
- Status – Active, Dissolved, or In Administration. Active means the company is trading and filing normally.
- Registered address – the address on the Companies House register, not necessarily the trading address.
Handling similar names
Many company names are nearly identical. Common patterns include:
- "Acme Ltd" and "Acme Limited" (these are the same; Ltd and Limited are equivalent)
- "Acme Trading Ltd" and "Acme Trading (UK) Ltd" (these are different companies)
- Multiple companies with the same name from different periods (one will be dissolved)
If you are unsure which entity you are dealing with, the Companies House number on any official correspondence from that company is the definitive reference.
Dissolved companies
A dissolved company still has a full record on Companies House. Senserity can enrich and score dissolved companies from historical filings. You might add a dissolved company to check its historical profile, for example when assessing whether a director was connected to any failed businesses.
Dissolved companies are labelled clearly in search results and on the watchlist. They do not generate alerts because they no longer file or change.
Trading names vs registered names
UK companies often trade under a different name from their legal registered name. A contract might be with "Acme Consulting" but the legal entity is "Acme Consulting Services Limited". The registered name is what appears in Companies House and in Senserity.
If you are not sure of the legal name, the simplest approach is to ask the company for their Companies House number, then search by that.
Scottish and Northern Ireland companies
Scottish companies registered with Companies House have numbers prefixed SC (e.g. SC123456). Northern Ireland companies have numbers prefixed NI. These are separate registers but are both searchable through Senserity.
Note that some Scottish companies are registered with Companies House Scotland (SC prefix) while others, particularly older entities, may use different registration formats. If you are unsure, search by name and look for the matching address.
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