Companies House and Gazette filings, explained.

A new natural person has been appointed to the company's board of directors. Filed within 14 days of the appointment taking effect.

Routine in most cases. The company is growing, bringing in expertise, replacing someone who's left, or formalising a long-standing arrangement. Worth a glance for the name and the timing.

A company (not a person) has been appointed as a director. Less common since the 2015 Small Business Act, which restricted the use of corporate directors.

Often used in group structures where the parent appoints itself or a subsidiary as a director. Look at the appointed entity's own filings to see who's behind it.

A director has resigned, been removed, or otherwise ceased to be a director. Filed within 14 days of the termination.

There are plenty of routine reasons: retirement, career move, internal restructure, sale of stake. Still a change in who's running the company. A sudden departure of a long-serving director is worth noting alongside other recent filings.

A director's recorded particulars (name, service address, occupation, etc.) have changed. Filed within 14 days.

Almost always administrative: a marriage, a moved home, a corrected typo. Rarely a signal on its own. Worth a glance if it's a director name change immediately before other filings.

A company secretary has been appointed and entered on the register. Private companies have not been required to have a secretary since April 2008, but many keep one to handle filings and governance. A secretary leaving is recorded on form TM02; a change to their details on form CH03.

Usually administrative. The secretary is the person who tends to the company's filing obligations and statutory records. A secretary resigning with no replacement, especially alongside director departures or overdue filings, is part of the wider picture rather than a signal on its own.

The company has granted security over some or all of its assets to a creditor, typically a bank, an asset financier, or HMRC. Must be filed within 21 days of the charge being created or it becomes void against a liquidator.

The new secured creditor will be paid before any unsecured creditor in any future insolvency. Multiple charges accumulating over a short period is something to be aware of when you're owed money by the same company.

A previously registered charge has been fully or partly satisfied: the secured debt has been paid down or the asset released.

Generally a positive sign for an unsecured creditor: one fewer claim in front of yours. A wave of charge satisfactions can also signal refinancing.

The company has formally changed its registered name, approved by special resolution of the members. The legal entity is unchanged: same company number, same trading history, same debts.

Often a rebrand or a tidy-up. The full filing tells you the old name, the new name, and the resolution date. Worth looking at alongside any recent director changes or filings about a new company with a similar name.

The address listed as the company's official seat for service of legal documents and correspondence has changed.

Frequently routine: moving offices, switching accountant providing the address, etc. A registered office that suddenly becomes a service-address provider (a generic accountancy or formations agent) is worth noting, especially if the trading address looks unchanged.

Every UK company must file at least one confirmation statement (formerly an annual return) every 12 months, confirming the registered particulars are accurate. Due within 14 days of the statement date.

An on-time CS01 is just standard housekeeping. A statement filed late, or a company that's let its filings lapse for months, is one of the strongest signals that something operational is wrong.

Every UK company files annual accounts at Companies House. Filing deadlines depend on the company's accounting reference date. The form code varies by company type (AA02 for dormant, full or abbreviated accounts otherwise).

Late or persistently overdue accounts are a documented early indicator of company distress. The accounts themselves show net assets, profit/loss, employee count, and going-concern statements. Even small private company accounts give a snapshot of the balance sheet.

The yearly snapshot of the company's registered details: directors, secretary, registered office, shareholders, and share capital. Required every year until 30 June 2016, when it was replaced by the confirmation statement (CS01). Companies filing before 2009 used the older form 363.

On its own, routine housekeeping, the same role the confirmation statement plays today. As with the CS01, the useful signal is in the rhythm: an annual return filed late, or a company that stopped filing them, is one of the earliest documented signs that something operational has gone wrong.

Changes the date to which the company's annual accounts are made up. The company can shorten its accounting period as often as it likes, but can usually only extend it once every five years and never beyond 18 months. The older equivalent is form 225.

Often routine, for example aligning a subsidiary's year-end with its parent's. Worth a closer look when a year-end is extended right before accounts would otherwise be due: pushing the deadline back is one way a company under pressure delays the moment its numbers become public.

The bundle of documents lodged when the company was first registered: the memorandum, the articles of association, the first officers, and the opening statement of capital. It marks the company's formation and the start of its filing history.

The beginning of the record. The incorporation date tells you how long the company has actually traded, which matters when you are weighing up a new counterparty. A very recently incorporated company with a thin filing history is worth treating with more caution than a glossy presentation might suggest.

A person now holds more than 25% of shares, more than 25% of voting rights, the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board, or otherwise exercises significant influence over the company.

Routine when a new shareholder takes a stake or an existing one passes a threshold. A change in PSC near other filings (sale of the business, director changes) is part of the wider context.

The company has issued new shares. The filing records the class, number, nominal value, and amount paid up on each.

Often a fundraise, equity coming in. Can also be the conversion of debt to shares or the issue of small numbers of management shares. Cash coming in is generally a positive for unsecured creditors.

A formal decision taken by the company's members (or in some cases its directors) and filed at Companies House. Filed resolutions include special resolutions to change the company's name, alter its articles, reduce its share capital, or give the directors authority to issue shares.

What it does depends entirely on its subject; most are routine corporate housekeeping. A cluster of resolutions in a short window, for example changing the name, altering the articles, and reorganising capital together, can mark a significant change of control or structure worth reading alongside the other filings.

The company's constitution: the memorandum recording the original subscribers, and the articles of association that set the internal rules for how the company is run, how shares are issued and transferred, and how decisions are made. This filing records the current version, often after the articles have been amended by special resolution.

Routine in itself. The articles matter most when something is changing: new share classes, transfer restrictions, or director powers can all be set here. Worth reading alongside any resolution or share filing from the same period.

The directors have applied to have the company removed from the register. Strict conditions apply: the company can't have traded, changed name, or disposed of property in the previous three months, and must not be subject to insolvency proceedings.

A DS01 is the directors' way of closing a dormant or finished company cleanly. Any creditor who's owed money should object within the two-month notice period. Otherwise the company's debts can be extinguished on dissolution.

Filed by the appointed administrator following an administration appointment, this statement sets out the company's assets, liabilities, secured/preferential/unsecured creditors, and the expected outcome for each class.

The single most useful document for any unsecured creditor of a company in administration. It shows declared asset values, what's already pledged to secured creditors, and the realistic expectation of recovery (often pence in the pound, or nil).

The formal record that an administrator has been appointed and now controls the company. Filed at Companies House on the day of appointment and mirrored in The Gazette within seven days. It names the administrator, their firm, and the party that appointed them.

The point at which administration formally begins. The directors no longer run the company; the administrator does. An unsecured creditor should expect contact from the named firm within seven days with a proof-of-debt form, and should think carefully before supplying anything further on credit.

The company's own statement of its assets, liabilities, and creditors as at the date of appointment, verified by a director and delivered to the administrator. Due within roughly 75 days. Older filings carry the pre-2017 form number 2.14B.

The clearest early read on what is actually there to recover. It lists declared asset values, what is already pledged to secured creditors, and the size of the deficiency to unsecured creditors. Often the first realistic indication that recovery will be pence in the pound, or nil.

The administrator's plan for the administration: how they intend to achieve its purpose, whether by rescuing the company, selling the business, or winding it up for a better result than an immediate liquidation. Filed within eight weeks of appointment and sent to creditors to approve.

Sets the direction of the whole case. Unsecured creditors get a vote, usually by a written decision procedure with a deadline on the form. Worth reading even when the outcome looks settled, because the proposals can set up a creditors' committee with rights to information the rest of the class does not get.

A six-monthly account of what the administrator has done, what has been realised, what the administration has cost, and what creditors can now expect. Filed at Companies House every six months until the case ends.

The running scoreboard of the administration. Each report updates the expected return to each class of creditor. A long series of progress reports means the case is still open and assets are still being realised, or chased.

Records that the administration has ended with the company handed back to its directors, rather than moved into liquidation or dissolution. Filed at Companies House.

The rarest of the three exits, and the most positive: the company has been rescued as a going concern and survives. For a creditor still owed money, it usually means dealing with the restored company directly again.

Filed when the administrator moves the company out of administration and into a Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation, typically because there are still assets to realise and distribute to unsecured creditors. A liquidator takes over.

Administration is ending but the company is not being rescued. The case continues under a liquidator, who handles any distribution to unsecured creditors. A creditor's claim carries across; watch for the liquidator's correspondence.

Filed when the administrator has done all they can and there is nothing left to distribute to unsecured creditors. The company then moves towards being struck off the register, usually about three months later.

The most common ending. The business, if there was one, has been sold and the empty company is wound up. For an unsecured creditor, it generally signals the end of the road for recovery from this company.

Published in The Gazette by the directors (or a qualifying floating charge holder) to give the legally-required notice (typically 10 business days) before an administrator can actually be appointed. Filed at court alongside.

A formal step before the appointment itself. The company may still recover, refinance, or be sold during the notice period. Treat as a strong signal to engage but not as a guarantee that administration will follow.

Published in The Gazette by the appointed administrator within seven days of taking office. Names the firm, the date of appointment, and the appointing party. Mirrored as a filing at Companies House.

The formal start of administration. The administrator now controls the company. Unsecured creditors should lodge their claim with the named practitioner and stop any further work or supply.

A creditor (often HMRC, but sometimes a supplier) has presented a court petition asking that the company be compulsorily wound up. Required to be published in The Gazette before the hearing.

Petitions can lead to liquidation, settlement, or withdrawal. Once published, a petition can freeze the company's bank account and trigger acceleration of other contracts. Any creditor of the same company should pay close attention to the hearing date.

Published by the Registrar of Companies giving notice that it intends to strike the company off the register and dissolve it, usually because filings are overdue and the Registrar has reason to believe the company is no longer carrying on business. Unless cause is shown, the company can be struck off not less than two months later. The follow-up notice confirming dissolution is the second Gazette notice (GAZ2).

A serious flag for anyone owed money. Once a company is dissolved, recovering a debt from it becomes far harder and any remaining assets pass to the Crown. A creditor can object to the strike-off to keep the company on the register while a claim is pursued.