Certificate of incorporation in United Kingdom
A certificate of incorporation (certified copy) United Kingdom order confirms that a company is recorded on the register held by Companies House, giving its registered name, company number and date of incorporation. It confirms formation only, at the point of issue; it does not confirm current officers, current status or charges against the company.
What this document shows
A certificate of incorporation (certified copy) United Kingdom order confirms that a company is recorded on the register held by Companies House, the authority responsible for company registration in the United Kingdom.
The Companies House fee for the certified copy itself is modest; where the cost surprises a first-time buyer is usually in what is added around it – legalisation, translation, or a rush turnaround – rather than in the certificate itself.
The United Kingdom certificate of incorporation is short as a record. Company name. Company number. Date of incorporation. Legal form. Jurisdiction of registration within the United Kingdom – England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. Each field sits on a single line, not a narrative account of the company.
A certified United Kingdom extract of this kind is drawn from the incorporation filing itself, not compiled fresh from later filings, so its content does not move even where the company's later history is long. This is the register maintained by Companies House for companies formed in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alike, and the certified copy is one product drawn from a single entry on it.
The registrar's certification states that the copy matches the entry on the register at the point it is issued, which is the fact a receiving party abroad is normally checking against the original filing. Where a company has changed its name since incorporation, the certificate as issued still reflects the name recorded at formation, unless a fresh extract is ordered against the current entry.
The document is one page, issued in English, and states nothing about trading activity, ownership or current officers. It is a record addressed to a single fact: that the company was formed.
For a corporate secretary preparing a board pack or a bank mandate, the certificate of incorporation (certified copy) United Kingdom order is usually the baseline document requested alongside more specific extracts, precisely because it fixes the one fact – that the company was formed – that later documents build on.
What it does not show
The certificate of incorporation confirms formation and nothing that has happened to the company since. It does not show current directors, or the registered office address as it stands today; that detail sits on the same Companies House register, in the current filing history, not on the incorporation certificate.
It does not show whether the company remains active, is in administration, or has been struck off the register. Current status is a separate check against the live entry, which – like the underlying company information – sits on a register that is open in the United Kingdom. It does not show charges or mortgages registered against the company's assets; those sit on the charges register, a distinct part of the same authority's records.
It does not show a certificate of good standing, which is a different United Kingdom company document and is not implied by this one. Nor does it confirm how an authority outside the United Kingdom will treat the certificate; that depends on the requirements of the destination, not on anything Companies House certifies.
Nothing here indicates the company's financial standing, its shareholders, or its accounts; those sit in separate filings on the same register, some open and some subject to their own timing. A reader expecting confirmation of good standing or current activity from this certificate alone will not find it here – that confirmation, where needed, is a separate order.
How it is obtained
Companies House issues the certificate of incorporation (certified copy) and sets the official fee for the certified copy service. The official fee for the certified copy was GBP 22 (fee as at 31 August 2026), effective from January 2026. Source: Companies House · retrieved 31 August 2026
Basic company information on the United Kingdom register is open and searchable without charge; the official fee above applies to the certified copy specifically, not to viewing the underlying record. What is paid for at this step is the handled route – requesting the certified copy, matching it to the correct company number and date, and returning it in a form a receiving party can check – not access to information otherwise withheld.
The access regime for this register, including whether a foreign applicant needs a UK representative, a UK electronic signature or a national identifier to obtain the certified copy directly, is being confirmed against the primary source. Turnaround for the certified copy is confirmed at the point of ordering, since the published guidance addresses the fee rather than a stated processing time.
The certificate is issued in English; no other language version is produced by the registrar. Reuse of the certified copy obtained through REGISTRUM is limited to the document ordered – per document only – and does not extend to onward resale or bulk reuse of the record.
Where the certified copy is needed outside the United Kingdom, an apostille can be added to the same order rather than sought separately afterwards; it confirms the origin of the certificate rather than anything about the company itself. A certified translation, courier delivery or a rush service can be added in the same way, each handled as part of the one order rather than as a second transaction. This is the same certificate whichever add-on is chosen; the add-on changes what accompanies it, not the underlying record.
Price and timeline
The fee for the certified copy, and the delivery date, are confirmed before payment once the company name and the date it is needed by are provided. Add-ons – apostille, certified translation, courier delivery or a rush service – can be added to the same order, each extending the stated timeline. If the document does not exist in this jurisdiction or cannot be obtained for you, we say so before you pay and we do not take the order.
How long does a certificate of incorporation (certified copy) from United Kingdom take?
Turnaround for the certified copy is confirmed once the order is placed, since Companies House publishes the fee for the service but not a fixed processing time on its guidance page. REGISTRUM confirms the delivery date, and any effect of add-ons such as apostille or rush service, before payment is taken.
Will a United Kingdom document be accepted abroad without an apostille?
Acceptance abroad depends on the requirements of the receiving authority, not on REGISTRUM or on Companies House. An apostille, added as an add-on where needed, confirms the origin of the certificate for use outside the United Kingdom; it does not determine how the receiving country will treat the certified United Kingdom extract once submitted.
What does a certificate of incorporation (certified copy) in United Kingdom not show?
The certificate confirms formation only. It does not show current directors, the registered office as it stands today, company status, or charges registered against the company's assets – each of those sits elsewhere on the same Companies House register, in the filing history or the charges register rather than on the incorporation certificate itself.
Does REGISTRUM need my UK company number to place the order, or is the company name enough?
REGISTRUM confirms the entity against Companies House using the company name and, where available, the company number, before the order is placed. Providing the number in advance avoids a mismatch on a company with a similar or superseded name, which is a common cause of delay when ordering a United Kingdom company document.
Is the certificate of incorporation the same as a certificate of good standing?
No. A certificate of incorporation records formation and is not reissued to reflect the company's current status. A certificate of good standing is a separate United Kingdom company document addressed to whether the company is up to date with its filings at the point it is requested, and is ordered separately.
To order the certificate of incorporation (certified copy), state the entity, the jurisdiction and the date you need it by; we confirm availability and the fee before you pay.
The same certificate can be requested directly from Companies House: a step-by-step guide to obtaining a certificate of incorporation in the United Kingdom yourself sets out that route.
REGISTRUM obtains and delivers official records issued by public registers and licensed registered agents. This page describes what those records contain and how they are obtained. It is not advice on the legal effect of any record. To order, write to info@registrumfirm.com.