Tool
Company number lookup
Search by company name to find its registration number. The number is the stable identifier: company names change, numbers do not.
What a company number is
A UK company registration number is 8 characters, issued by Companies House at incorporation. Companies registered in England and Wales usually have 8 digits, often with leading zeros. Other registrations carry letter prefixes: SC for Scotland, NI for Northern Ireland, OC and SO for limited liability partnerships, and NC or FC for certain further categories.
Leading zeros and prefixes are part of the number. We preserve them everywhere on this site, and if you drop the zeros we pad the number back to 8 characters and tell you.
Where to find it
- Website footers and email signatures of limited companies.
- Invoices, order forms and letterheads.
- The public register, searched by name.
| Company number | Issued by Companies House. Public. 8 characters. |
|---|---|
| VAT registration number | Issued by HMRC on VAT registration. Usually GB plus nine digits. |
| UTR | A ten-digit HMRC tax reference. Confidential, never published. |