How to Verify a Company in the United Kingdom: An Ultimate Guide

In the past years, the UK has been mounting bold efforts to increase corporate transparency, most notably by the introduction of the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE). It is a legal register maintained by Companies House, requiring overseas entities owning property in the UK to publicly declare their beneficial owners.

As part of wider reforms, this marks growing demands for accountability and emphasizes how critical proper verification of companies has become in every sector.

More than five million registered companies exist in the UK, and the increasingly regulated business environment means that the need to verify whether a company is legitimate is more important than ever, not merely for compliance but to protect partnerships and minimize any potential business risks. 

Due to post-Brexit regulatory change and the introduction of stringent anti-money laundering (AML) directives, businesses in the UK have found themselves under mounting pressure to take a proactive stance with respect to Know Your Business and due diligence. Whether you’re onboarding a vendor, partnering with a supplier, or conducting background checks before an investment, understanding how to verify a company in the UK is essential for making sound, compliant decisions.

Why Verifying UK Companies is Important

High regulatory standards notwithstanding, the risks in the UK business ecosystem include shell entities, stale records, and opaque ownership structures. Comprehensive verification serves as a first line of defense, which helps business entities mitigate financial and reputational exposure, ensure compliance with KYB and AML regulations, and establish a measure of trust with whom they decide to work.

In heavily regulated industries like banking, FinTech, legal services, insurance, and global trade, KYB cannot just be seen as a compliance box to check. Rather, it supports key functions that include risk mitigation, preventing reputational damage, and long-term oversight. This makes verification a key strategic necessity. 

Who Needs to Verify Companies in the UK 

Contrary to common assumptions, due diligence is not merely a task for banks or regulators. Firms from industrial sectors, ranging from startups and SMEs to multinationals, are expected to conduct due diligence before entering into business partnerships.

For instance, FinTech onboards third-party service providers, while legal experts need assurance about the entities before signing a contract. E-commerce entities must screen third-party sellers to prevent the risk of fraud, while compliance teams in large companies generally handle the cross-jurisdictional review of vendors and shareholders.

Anytime in the UK, and no matter the size of the enterprise, thorough due diligence will always be an important regulatory checkpoint, as well as providing the much-needed operational security whenever the other party is another registered entity.

UBO Verification: Why Surface-Level Checks Aren’t Enough

On paper, a business may look legitimate, but true control can lie beneath the surface. That’s why identifying a company’s Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) is a key step in KYB processes. A UBO is the individual who ultimately owns or controls the business, often concealed behind multiple corporate layers or offshore structures.

While UK companies are required to disclose Persons with Significant Control (PSC), these registry entries can sometimes be incomplete, outdated, or intentionally misleading. Conducting a proper UBO check helps reveal hidden ownership structures and ensures that you’re not unknowingly dealing with high-risk individuals or sanctioned entities (both directly and indirectly).

Particularly, this is in those sectors vulnerable to financial crime, such as crypto, banking, and asset management. Under frameworks like 6AMLD and the UK’s AML regime, accurate UBO identification is more than best practice; it’s also a regulatory requirement.

How to Verify a UK Company: Registries and Resources

Any investigation of a UK company’s veracity must begin with Companies House, the official UK business registry. You can search the UK company register to confirm basic details like legal status, directors, and filing history. It provides an extensive amount of information on the company: the date of incorporation, its legal status, registered office addresses, databases on ownership and directorship, and also filing history, such as annual returns and accounts or confirmation statements.

For any financial institution or regulated business, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) runs an authorization register to check whether a given entity is authorized to conduct regulated activities. Updated and recent records from both authorities serve as the essential for accurate business verification in the UK.

Manual Verification and Its Challenges

To verify a company manually using an official resource:

1. Search for the company on Companies House using its name or registration number
2. Check company details such as incorporation date, status, and registered address.
3. Review filings like PSC disclosures, annual accounts, and any director changes
4. Watch for red flags such as overdue filings, complex ownership layers, or dormant status

While this kind of approach can be somewhat useful for one-time checks, it may become impractical for scenarios when there are multiple verifications that need to be conducted. Manual methods of verification are usually accompanied by great limitations, such as:

Limited Depth of Data: Generally, public records do not have much information about UBOs or licensing.

Time-Consuming: To review and cross-reference several sources takes a significant amount of time.

Risks of Missed Red Flags: Incomplete or outdated filing documents may conceal important risk signals.

No Ongoing Monitoring: Manual checks provide a static dimension of time. Therefore, there is a great lack of standardization with respect to the formats, thus making it difficult to compare among jurisdictions.

Always check the company UK records on Companies House, then use The KYB for deeper risk checks.

Digital Alternatives: A Way for Smarter Verification

In addressing these challenges, many organizations have moved to digital platforms that integrate seamlessly with official registries like those of Companies House and the FCA. Among the features they offer, which significantly speed up and strengthen the whole process of verification, are the following:

• More than one company can be checked simultaneously.
• Automatic archiving of historical filings, as well as notifying of any changes for future events.
• Flagging a risk based on the extent of ownership complexity, jurisdiction exposure, and filing history.

The compliance teams also benefit from built-in case management tools that are able to track verification steps for audit purposes. For international and global businesses, international registry data would allow very scalable due diligence across borders.

The KYB: Purpose-Built for Seamless UK Company Verification

Verifying a business entity in the UK goes far beyond just knowing their registration status on Companies House. While the registry provides some data, it does not always reflect the real nature of a business. Incomplete business filings and stale records of the PSC can obscure the company structure, becoming a hindrance to transparency.

Moreover, Companies House faces the persistent issue of multiple registrations using the same address — a loophole often exploited in fraudulent schemes. Just because an entity is listed doesn’t mean it’s trustworthy. That’s why The KYB goes a step further by screening companies against global warnings, regulatory enforcements, and adverse media, ensuring your UK company registration checks are both compliant and comprehensive.

More importantly, being registered officially doesn’t always mean that the entity or its owners are free from any potential risk and are operating legally. The KYB is built especially for verification needs. Our platform not only confirms if a business in the UK exists, it also helps assess whether that business is safe, compliant, and trustworthy.

With The KYB you can:

• Search and verify UK companies in real time via official sources like Companies House and the FCA
• Access core company records, including legal status, directorship, incorporation, and PSC filings
• Go beyond surface-level checks by identifying Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs), even across offshore and nested structures
• Detect red flags like outdated filings, dormant status, and complex ownership patterns
• Screen entities and individuals against global sanctions lists, PEP databases, and regulatory enforcement actions
• Uncover if the business is tied to criminal activity or reputational risk, not just whether it’s legally formed
• Monitor changes over time, helping compliance teams stay alert and audit-ready

Book a demo with us today and verify companies registered in the UK.

FAQs:

1. 1. How to check company registration in the UK?

      To check a company’s registration in the UK, go to the Companies House register and search by name or registration number. You’ll see basic details like legal status, incorporation date, and registered address.

   2. How do I check if a company is legit and registered in the UK?

   To check if a company is legit and registered in the UK, search its name on the Companies House register and verify its legal status, registration number, and filing history. But registration alone isn’t enough. For proper compliance, you need tools that go beyond basic checks. The KYB helps you screen companies against sanctions, regulatory enforcements, and adverse media offering a complete view of who you’re really doing business with.