Companies House has a free Follow service that emails you when a company you follow files a document. To know what the filing means, set up a Kronical agent: name up to 25 UK companies in one sentence, and when one of them files a change, such as a new owner, a new lender, a director leaving or new shares, Kronical tells you in plain English what changed, what it adds to the company’s recent filings and what the news says about it.
Most changes never make the news.
In 11 days, from 10 to 20 October, UK companies filed:
- 16,905 directors leaving and 15,927 appointed;
- 8,945 new owners with significant control and 9,210 owners stepping back;
- 7,496 new loans secured against companies, and 3,349 paid off;
- 3,225 share issues, which is new money coming in;
- 2,276 name changes and 27,754 moves of registered office.
Almost none of them reach a headline. Kronical reads every one as it is published.
Take Nscale. The news covered its US listing, its new chief operating officer and Microsoft pulling out of a data centre. Meanwhile the register showed a director stepping down, its owners changing twice, a move to a public company (its US listing papers said one was coming), a loan paid off and new shares issued. We found no report of those five filings in the news Kronical reads or in a web search.
What each change means.
- A new ownerSomeone now controls more than a quarter of the company. Often a sale, a new parent or a restructuring.PSC01 · PSC02
- An owner steps backThe old controller is gone. Read it with the new owner filed beside it.PSC07
- A new lenderA loan secured against the company’s assets: who the company owes, often borrowing to grow or to keep going.MR01
- A loan paid offA lender’s security is released, often after a refinancing.MR04
- New sharesMoney raised, or shares issued to staff or owners.SH01
- Directors in and outWho is running the company now.AP01 · TM01
- A new name or a new addressSometimes housekeeping, sometimes the first sign of a sale or of an insolvency firm taking over.NM01 · AD01
- Becoming a public companyA step companies take before listing shares or raising money from the public.RR01
For warning signs specifically, see How to tell if a company is in financial trouble. For US startups, see how to find recently funded startups.
Companies House alerts vs a Kronical agent.
Companies House’s Follow service is free and emails you as soon as a filing is accepted, with a link to the document. A Kronical agent reads it for you.
| COMPANIES HOUSE FOLLOW | KRONICAL AGENT | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | An email that a document was filed, with a link | What changed in plain words, beside the company’s recent filings and its news |
| Owners and lenders | Open the documents yourself | Who owns, runs and lends to the company, kept up to date |
| Which filings | Every one, routine ones included | The kinds you care about, or all of them |
| How you set it up | Follow each company by hand | One sentence naming up to 25 companies |
| Where alerts land | Email, Slack, Telegram and more | |
| Price | Free | Set with your team on a short intro call |
Questions.
How do I set up Companies House alerts?
Sign in to the Companies House service, find the company and choose Follow: you get an email whenever it files a document. For alerts that tell you what changed and what the news says, set up a Kronical agent in one sentence, for example “Tell me when anything changes at Monzo Bank.”
Can I get email alerts from Companies House?
Yes, through its free Follow service, which emails you when a company you follow files something. Kronical agents also deliver to Slack, Telegram and other channels.
Is there a Companies House monitoring service?
Companies House’s own Follow service covers single companies by email. A Kronical agent watches up to 25 companies in one sentence, reads each filing, and adds the company’s owners, lenders and news.
How do I find out who owns a UK company?
Look up the company on the Companies House register and open “People”: it lists the persons with significant control, meaning anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or votes. Ask Kronical in Claude or ChatGPT, “Who owns Octopus Energy?”, and it answers from the register with the directors and lenders beside them.
What does a change of persons with significant control mean?
Someone has started or stopped controlling more than a quarter of the company. It can mean a sale, a new parent company or a restructuring. Kronical sets the change beside the company’s other filings and its news.
Does this work for companies outside the UK?
Company alerts cover the UK register and US companies that raise money privately (their SEC Form D filings). Kronical’s news agents cover companies everywhere, in many languages.
How is it priced?
It is set with your team, to the number of agents and runs you need, with delivery to email, Slack, Telegram and more. Book an intro and we will size it with you.
Kronical reports what companies file and what is published. It does not judge a company’s prospects, and nothing here is advice.
