Companies House – looking to extend retention period for dissolved companies
Companies House – looking to extend retention period for dissolved companies
At present, records of dissolved companies are retained for 20 years, an extension of the previous six-year limit for bankrupt and liquidated businesses, but they are only freely available dating back to 2010 at present.
The increased transparency and timescales are the result of the corporate transparency and register reform, which began in 2020, and has seen the introduction of mandatory ID verification for directors and greater investigative powers for Companies House.
As part of this move, Companies House has added the records of all companies dissolved since January 2010 to the search function, ‘Find and update company information service’, allowing access to the full details of collapsed businesses and former directors, as well as financial accounts and ‘statements of affairs’ where administrators reported on failed businesses.
Now Companies House is considering taking one step further, effectively allowing access to more historic records through its standard search function.
Companies House said: ‘We’re currently reviewing the retention period for dissolved company records. We’ve paused the destruction and transfer of records during this review.’
‘The government’s aim is to strike the right balance between allowing access to transparent company information in the public interest, protecting personal data, and providing value for money.’
‘Any future proposals to change the retention period will be subject to public consultation.’
Previously, records of dissolved companies were removed from the Companies House register after six years from the date of dissolution. These dissolved records were only available for 20 years for a fee.
Previously when the current 20-year retention period for dissolved companies was reached, ‘selected records were transferred to the appropriate Public Records Office (for example, The National Archives for companies registered in England and Wales).’
Companies House confirmed record destruction will not happen during the review process.