It's safe to say that access to previously exclusive company data is today easier than ever. Economists, journalists, researchers, shareholders and job seekers can quickly check key data on businesses that interest them, as well as conduct a statistical analysis based on organizational information for a specific geographic area or industry.
BizDb.co.uk, an online data repository of UK companies, has just recently upgraded its service, effectively taking the first step into the future of company data analytics. The service now offers a wide selection of free company filings, providing the very first database where information is freely available to anyone interested in delving into the reality of business.
Why are company filings important at all?
Most countries oblige companies to periodically provide full financial data and heaps of other information to local agencies, which most of the time grant access to this data after registration and fee payment.
In the UK, company filings are handled by Companies House – an agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Companies House incorporates and dissolves limited liability companies, registers all information companies are legally required to supply and then makes it available to the public.
Both state-owned and private databases that compile company information also include company filings – the documents that have been filed by businesses in a given period of time, such as annual reports, company accounts or annual returns.
Such filings serve as the foundation for the financial data in a variety of print and electronic sources – they are usually the only and the best source of original and valuable information about a specific business.
Most importantly, company filings accurately capture a company’s situation at a given point in time in a concise way that helps us to gain better understanding of the business. Company filings often unveil additional information that isn't included in your regular annual reports to shareholders.
When browsing a database of company filings, you might find:
- Informative annual reports filed after a company's fiscal year ends
- Comprehensive quarterly updates filed during each of the first three fiscal quarters
- Detailed reports of corporate changes deemed of importance to shareholders or to the agency responsible for data collection
- Documents that must be offered to investors before the sale of any security is initiated
You can only imagine that such rich sources of information are accessible on fee payment – and you're right! Offering a wide range of UK company filings for free, BizDb clearly takes access to company data to the next level, helping millions of professionals get a clear view of a company's history and progress, and a glimpse into its future.
What kind of company data you can find on BizDb?
There are various databases that compile company filings in various countries, or even whole continents, but they never provide full filings for free. That works for the vast majority of cases, but BizDb is different. This innovative database offers a wide range of company filings for all business located in the United Kingdom entirely for free.
What kind of data can you find on BizDb? Let's start from the basics – you'll get a full company profile, including its name, address, Company Registration Number, business category, incorporation date, the end of financial year and its current status.
Going further into the profile, you'll get information on the company’s age, main service categories and an understandable description covering main company facts. Every company profile also includes a detailed overview of its executive staff, showing both current and past directors, which BizDb chose to demonstrate in a clear graph.
The most important section of every profile is located at the bottom of the page – here you'll find a selection of key company filings. You can choose to hide or show various types of filings. This is a great functionality that can significantly help users to focus on specific data research.
What kind of filings are available on BizDb? You'll find a vast number of document categories ranging from certificates, accounts and annual returns to data on the company’s incorporation, address and officers.
As you can imagine there are millions of such documents available on BizDb, rendering it clearly the best source of information about any limited liability company located in the UK.
Company filings – for whom?
As you can see, company filings are a very rich source of key company data that might be of interest to many people. First, there are professionals who work in investment sectors and potential shareholders who'd like to check a company’s performance and history before jumping in.
Then there are researchers in various economy departments, who can use such data to construct geographic or sector-based analyses for a given period of time. Naturally, this kind of data will also be of interest to all job-seekers – just a few clicks are enough to gain an in-depth and objective picture of the company to see whether employment there is a good move for their career.
Finally, journalists who plan to cover a specific company will be granted a glimpse into its internal workings and hopefully develop a fresh perspective on the basis of this data.
Public access to company data revolutionized
The mission of BizDb is an integral part of the current tendency to foster business transparency employed in the United Kingdom. This kind of company data is very important and should be accessible to the general public wanting to learn more about the local industry.
That's why the effort employed by BizDb to provide all this crucial data for free is nothing short of admirable – thanks to portals like this, we'll soon be able to gain access to more and more company data, which will help us to learn all key facts and gain a full picture of any company located in the UK.
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