Guidance

Companies House official statistics: Quality information about statistical releases

Published 26 October 2016

This document provides information on the quality of Companies House official statistics. It can help you assess if the data is good enough to use.

1. Data quality dimensions

The Companies House official statistics have been measured against characteristics called data quality dimensions.

The European Statistical System’s data quality dimensions are:

• relevance
• accuracy and reliability
• timeliness and punctuality
• coherence
• comparability
• accessibility and clarity

2. Relevance 

Relevance is the degree to which the statistics meet your needs for coverage and content.

Companies House incorporates and dissolves limited companies. We register company information and make it available to the public.

Find out more about Companies House.

Companies House statistical releases provide figures for the UK, as well as England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland individually.

2.1 Quarterly statistics publications

Companies House releases quarterly official statistics publications about the main changes to the companies register such as its size and the number of incorporations and dissolutions. They also contain data about limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

These quarterly releases include statistics from financial year ending 2013 onwards.

2.2 Annual statistics publications

Annually, Companies House releases official statistics that summarise activity on the companies register during the financial year.

The annual statistics publications:

• give information about companies such as age and number of directors, shareholders and people of significant control
• cover the most recent 10 financial years of data for the UK and constituent countries
• include a small selection of historic company statistics from 1939 onwards
• give information about types of corporate bodies that Companies House administers such as limited partnerships and overseas entities

2.3 User testing

Companies House runs formal user testing to assess public opinion on the content, format, and frequency of official statistics publications.

If you have feedback about a Companies House statistical product, contact statistics@companieshouse.gov.uk.

3. Accuracy and reliability 

Accuracy and reliability refer to the closeness between an estimated or stated result and the (unknown) true value. 

Companies House statistics are a complete record of UK companies as defined by the Companies Act 2006. UK companies must register with Companies House to legally exist.

Appearing on the register does not indicate a company’s trading status, as the register includes companies that are trading and dormant. Dormant companies must still submit statutory documents every year, like annual accounts and confirmation statements.

Companies House compiles official statistics from administrative system data, which is subject to the sources of error common in administrative systems.

Company information is submitted to Companies House by, or on behalf of, companies. Companies have a statutory responsibility to keep Companies House up to date on any changes.

4. Timeliness and punctuality 

Timeliness refers to the time that has passed between publishing statistics and the period they refer to. Punctuality refers to the time lag between the actual and planned dates of publication. 

4.1 Timeliness

Companies House publishes statistical releases on a quarterly and annual basis.

Quarterly statistics are published on the last Thursday of the month following the end of the period being reported. Annual statistics cover a financial year, running from April to the following March, and are published on the last Thursday of June.

These are the earliest publication dates that allow for production of the statistical release ready for publication. 

4.2 Punctuality

Companies House official statistics have always been published on schedule. We announce upcoming publications on the GOV.UK release calendar.

5. Coherence 

Coherence is the similarity between data derived from different sources or methods that refer to the same phenomenon. 

This section provides brief information on how these Companies House official statistics relate to selected business statistics.

Find more detailed information in the guide to business statistics.

Learn about the difference between companies and businesses.

5.1 Company incorporations and business creation 

A range of official data sources monitor business creation in slightly different ways. Together they provide an overall picture of the trend in business creation activity.

Companies House incorporations 

Company incorporations provide information on newly formed companies that are added to the Companies House register. Unincorporated businesses such as sole proprietorship or partnerships are not captured by Companies House incorporations. 

Business demography 

Every year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) releases statistics about business demography. This release covers business creation and dissolution, identified through the registration, or de-registration, for Value Added Tax (VAT) or Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Business demography does not capture the smallest, non-employing business start-ups which do not register for VAT or PAYE. 

5.2 Business population 

Several official statistics provide information on the size of the business population.    

5.2.1 Companies register 

Companies House official statistics provide two figures on the total number of incorporated companies that are filing documents to Companies House.

Total register

The total register size includes all companies registered at Companies House. The total register includes companies that are:

• trading
• dormant
• in liquidation
• in the course of dissolution
• in receivership

Effective register

The effective register contains any companies on the total register that are not in liquidation or the course of dissolution. 

5.2.2 Business population estimates 

An annual release from the Department for Business and Trade provides the only estimate of the total UK business population. It includes information on incorporated companies and unincorporated sole proprietorships or partnerships. 

5.2.3 UK business 

ONS produces an annual release with details on the business population that has registered for VAT or PAYE. 

5.3 Company insolvency 

The Insolvency Service has policy responsibility for all forms of corporate insolvency in England and Wales. It reports on insolvency statistics, including company liquidations and individual insolvencies.

Compulsory liquidations published in the tables that accompany this release may differ from those published by the Insolvency Service. The Insolvency Service’s compulsory liquidations statistics are sourced from their administrative systems. All other forms of company insolvency published by the Insolvency Service are on the same basis as those published by Companies House. 

6. Comparability 

Comparability is the degree to which data can be compared over time and domain. 

Some Companies House official statistics are not directly comparable with earlier figures.

6.1 Great Britain or UK register

Official statistics figures for the period 1979 to financial year ending 2009 are for Great Britain. In October 2009, the Northern Ireland and Great Britain registers merged to create the UK register. Figures from financial year ending 2010 onwards are for the UK and are therefore not directly comparable with earlier figures. 

6.2 Calendar or financial year

Until 1986, annual official statistics releases covered the calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December. From financial year ending 1987 onwards, annual official statistics releases cover the financial year, from 1 April to 31 March, and are therefore not directly comparable with earlier years. 

6.3 Changes to the companies register

In 2008 and 2009 there were substantial changes to the companies register that likely affected the number of incorporations and dissolutions, and the size of the total and effective registers.

Changes to the companies register included:  

• a change in the administrative system that forms the register in February 2008
• removing defunct companies that had spent an extended period in the process of dissolution or liquidation in May 2009
• combining the Great Britain and Northern Ireland registers to create the UK register in October 2009
• reducing the time taken to dissolve companies and remove them from the register in October 2009, in accordance with the Companies Act 2006

7. Accessibility and clarity 

Accessibility is how easily users can access the data, and the format of data and supporting information. Clarity is the quality and sufficiency of metadata, illustrations and accompanying advice. 

Companies House releases official statistics for free on the GOV.UK website. You can also find historic data on the National Archives website. 

Companies House publishes official statistics releases in html format with commentary explaining the main findings. We publish data tables in Excel (.xlsx) and OpenDocument (.ods) formats. Quarterly official statistics data is also available in comma-separated values (.csv) format. 

If you have feedback on the clarity of a Companies House statistical product, contact statistics@companieshouse.gov.uk.