UK companies have always had to keep a set of statutory registers — formal records of who runs and owns the company. But recent reforms have quietly abolished most of them, and that's left a lot of directors unsure what they still need to maintain. The short answer: the register of members is the one that still matters, and several registers you may have been keeping are no longer required at all. Here's exactly where things stand now.
What's changed
As part of the Companies House reforms under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, the requirement for companies to keep certain registers locally — that is, in their own records — was removed from 18 November 2025. Specifically, you no longer have to maintain your own: register of directors; register of directors' residential addresses; register of secretaries; or register of people with significant control (the PSC register).
The thinking behind it is that all of this information is already held at Companies House, so keeping a duplicate local copy serves little purpose. Instead of maintaining these registers yourself, the obligation is now to keep the information held at Companies House accurate and up to date.
The register of members: still required, and now more so
The one register that was not abolished is the register of members — your record of who owns the company's shares. Every company must still keep this, and a recent change has actually made it more firmly your responsibility: until early 2026, private companies could choose to keep their register of members on the central register at Companies House instead of locally. From 26 January 2026 that option was removed, so all member information must now sit on the company's own register. If you were relying on the central option, you need to recreate your own register of members and maintain it going forward.
The register of members records each shareholder's full name, the shares they hold, and the relevant dates. It matters more than people realise because it's the definitive legal record of ownership — when shares change hands, legal ownership passes at the moment the new owner is entered in this register, not when the transfer form is signed. The same applies when you allot new shares — the register update is what establishes the new shareholder's ownership. If you ever transfer shares, keeping this register correct is what actually completes the transfer; we cover that fully in our guide to transferring shares and the J30 form.
What "held at Companies House" means for you in practice
Abolishing the local registers doesn't mean the information disappears or that you can ignore it. The opposite, really: because Companies House now holds the authoritative record of your directors, secretaries and PSCs, keeping your filings there timely and accurate matters more than ever. When a director is appointed or resigns, or someone's details change, you notify Companies House — generally within 14 days. The obligation has shifted from "keep a book in your records" to "keep the central record correct." Much of that PSC and director information is also what you confirm each year through your confirmation statement.
Should you still keep the old registers anyway?
You're allowed to. Nothing stops a company continuing to maintain its former registers of directors, secretaries and PSCs as internal documents, even though they're no longer legally required — and for some companies that's worth doing. A clean internal record of who's been a director and a PSC, and when, is genuinely useful for due diligence if you ever sell or raise investment, and for your own governance. It's a judgement call: not an obligation, but often good housekeeping. What you can't treat as optional is the register of members.
The records you do still have to keep
So, stripped back, the records a small company is actually required to maintain are fewer than the old long list: your register of members, kept current and held by the company; and your minutes and written resolutions of significant company decisions, which must be retained for at least ten years. The latter aren't a register as such, but they're the other piece of the statutory record that genuinely matters — the evidence that decisions were properly taken, which we cover in board minutes as a sole director. Everything else that used to be a mandatory local register is now either held at Companies House or kept only if you choose to.
Common questions
- Do I still need to keep a PSC register?
- No. From 18 November 2025, companies are no longer required to maintain their own local PSC register, register of directors, register of directors' residential addresses, or register of secretaries — that information is held at Companies House instead. You can keep them voluntarily, but it's no longer a legal duty.
- Which company register do I still have to keep?
- The register of members — your record of who owns the shares. It remains mandatory and, since January 2026, must be kept by the company itself rather than on the central Companies House register.
- Where are my directors and PSCs recorded now?
- At Companies House. You keep that information accurate by filing changes (such as a director's appointment, resignation or change of details) with Companies House, generally within 14 days.
- Can I still keep the registers that were abolished?
- Yes. You can maintain the old registers of directors, secretaries and PSCs as internal records if you find them useful for governance or due diligence — you're just no longer required to.