Companies House
The UK company register can be downloaded free of charge, but the file is large, it does not fit into one Excel worksheet and it contains no contact details. This page shows how to export the part you need yourself and when a ready-made company data export saves you the work.
Companies House snapshot of 1 November 2026 · page updated: 8 November 2026 · by Martin Adamec
In brief
The Free Company Data Product is published on the Companies House download page. In November 2026 it was offered as one ZIP file of 471 MB or in seven smaller parts, each containing a CSV file with one row per live company. No account is needed. Dissolved companies are not included; the snapshot only lists companies that are live on the register on the reference date.
What the columns mean, from registered office to previous names, is explained in our guide Companies House: what the free data shows. Figures from the whole file of 1 November 2026, by status, company type and industry, are on the page the Companies House register in figures.
An Excel worksheet has 1,048,576 rows. The full snapshot has 5,711,779 data rows, so double-clicking the CSV loses most of the register without any obvious warning. Three ways that work:
Whatever you use, import the company number and postcode as text. Numbers such as 01234567 lose their leading zero if a program treats them as numbers, and SC, NI or OC prefixes then no longer match.
| Filter | Example | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Company status | keep “Active” | 417,325 live companies had a proposal to strike off on 1 November 2026; most lists should leave them out, as well as companies in liquidation. |
| Company type | private limited companies, LLPs, PLCs | Limited partnerships, charitable incorporated organisations and overseas entities are on the register too. |
| SIC code | the first five characters of the first SIC field, for example 43220 for plumbing | The code is the company’s own choice. 231,826 live companies supplied none and 103,488 gave 99999 for dormant companies. Codes by industry: UK SIC 2007 for target lists. |
| Postcode | registered office postcode starting with M, LS or EH | The registered office is often an accountant or a formation agent, not the place where the business trades. |
| Incorporation date | companies incorporated in the last 12 months | New companies often have no website or trading address yet. |
| Companies House snapshot | firmdat.co.uk export | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | free | £199 to £379 per whole industry; selections quoted |
| Records | 5,711,779 live companies (1 November 2026) | 2,676,396 businesses and sites, 2,661,125 of them active (4 November 2026) |
| Legal forms | incorporated bodies only | all legal forms found in the sources, including sole traders |
| Address | registered office | trading address from open map data |
| Phone, email, website | none | 2,287,177 with phone, 745,988 with own email, 2,185,581 with website |
| Company number, SIC, status | for every company | for records matched with the register (293,744 so far; matching in progress) |
| File | CSV in ZIP, larger than one Excel worksheet | only your selection, as CSV, XLSX or JSON |
If the register fields are all you need, the free snapshot is the right source and you do not need to buy anything. A paid export makes sense when you need trading addresses, phone numbers or websites as well, or businesses that are not companies. The columns of our export are listed on the export and sample file page, the current coverage on database status.
Before you email or call the businesses on any list, check the rules in PECR for B2B email and calls: a company number shows a corporate subscriber, and phone numbers must be screened against TPS and Corporate TPS.
Yes. Companies House publishes the Free Company Data Product as a free download without registration: one CSV file per release, packed as one ZIP file or in several parts. Only the Companies House API needs a user account and an API key.
Not in one worksheet. The snapshot of 1 November 2026 lists 5,711,779 live companies, while an Excel worksheet holds at most 1,048,576 rows. Excel either stops loading or shows only the first rows. Use the smaller parts, load the file into the Data Model with Power Query, or filter it with a database or a short script before you open the result in Excel.
No. The snapshot contains the company number, name, registered office, company type, status, dates and up to four SIC codes, but no phone numbers, email addresses or websites. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are not on the register at all.
Companies House states that the latest snapshot is updated within five working days of the end of the previous month. A file you downloaded is therefore a picture of one day; companies that dissolve afterwards are still in it.
By matching on the company number. Our exports combine trading addresses, phone numbers and websites from open map data and company websites with the company number, legal form, SIC code and status from Companies House wherever a match is confirmed. So far 293,744 company numbers have been matched; the quote states how many records of your selection carry one.
Name the SIC codes or industry, the region and the fields you need. The quote states how many records carry a company number.
