The UK's Companies House register is one of the most underused resources in business acquisition. It's free, comprehensive, and updated in real time. Here's how to use it to build a deal pipeline.
What Companies House data includes Every company registered in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland files data with Companies House. This includes: – Company name and registration number – Registered address – SIC code (sector classification) – Incorporation date – Director names and appointment dates – Filed accounts (for limited companies) – Confirmation statements – Charges (mortgages, loans secured against the business).
For acquisition targeting, the most useful fields are: – SIC code (find businesses in your target sector) – Incorporation date (filter for businesses 5–20 years old – more likely at exit stage) – Director names (identify the owner) – Region (filter by geography) – Filed accounts (get a rough sense of scale).
What it doesn't include Companies House won't give you: – Revenue (unless from filed accounts, which can lag 12–18 months) – Profit – Email addresses or phone numbers – Employee count (for private companies). This is why enrichment tools matter, Companies House gets you to the door, enrichment gets you the contact details.
Rate limits and how to work around them The free Companies House API allows 600 requests per 5 minutes. For individual use that's plenty, but if you're building a platform or doing bulk searches you'll hit limits quickly. The solution is to register for your own free API key at developer.company-information.service.gov.uk, this gives you a dedicated rate limit rather than sharing one with everyone else using the same platform. ownered.ai supports per-user API keys for exactly this reason, add your own key in Settings and you get your own dedicated rate limit.
Building a search strategy The most effective approach: 1. Pick 2–3 SIC codes in your target sector 2. Filter by region 3. Filter by incorporation date (e.g. 2000–2018 = 7–25 years old) 4. Sort by most recent confirmation statement (active = files regularly) 5. Cross-reference against filed accounts where available to sense-check scale. This gives you a high-quality list of active, established businesses in your target sector – the exact profile most likely to have an owner considering their exit options.
From list to outreach Once you have your target list, the next step is getting owner contact details and starting a personalised outreach campaign. ownered.ai handles this end-to-end – search, enrich, campaign, track – without needing multiple tools or a broker.