Free, and not a credit check
What Companies House says about your business
A lender's first look at a limited company is the public register, before any credit search. This reads it for you: status and age, whether the accounts are overdue, what charges are registered and who holds them, and how many directors are current. Then it says plainly what a lender makes of each line.
No credit search is run. No score is invented. Nothing is stored about you unless you choose to send an enquiry afterwards.
Limited companies and LLPs only: a sole trader is not on the register, and that is fine, the funding form takes the trading name instead.
What lenders read on the register, line by line
Status and age. Only an active company can borrow in its own name. Most lenders on the panel want three months of trading before they will look; the banks tend to want two or three years. Incorporation is a floor for trading time, not proof of it, so a company that sat dormant is judged on when it actually started trading.
Accounts. Overdue accounts are the most common reason a case stops at the first check, because the underwriter cannot see the numbers and reads the lateness as a signal. Filing them first is worth more than any other single step. Micro-entity and abridged accounts are fine; the bank statements carry the detail anyway.
Charges. A charge is a lender's claim registered against the company, usually a debenture or a charge over specific kit or property. Each outstanding one is a lender already in the queue, and a new lender asks what it secures and who ranks first. No charges at all means an unencumbered company, which opens refinancing of owned assets as a route.
Directors. Unsecured lenders usually ask the directors who own the shares for a personal guarantee, so a sole director's own position is part of the case. The register shows who is current; it does not show shareholdings in detail, which the confirmation statement does.
Source: Companies House public data API, read live each time. Register data is as filed by the company and can lag the real position by weeks.