July 2014 saw Companies House openly commit themselves to offering all of their digital data free of charge by the end of June 2015. The idea came after some serious self-evaluation from the government agency following a strategy review a few years ago. The move arrives soon after the agencyβs significant shift to βThe Companies House Serviceβ, a new unified approach to the way in which Companies House operates.
The Companies House Service saw its beta launch towards the end of 2014, replacing the separate filing and search services with a new RESTful API. This updated interface allows both Companies House and third parties to straightforwardly create filing and searching facilities. To support this change on the technical side, a NoSQL MongoDB infrastructure is also replacing the relational Oracle database.
βIt has been very well receivedβ, says Companies House chief executive Tim Moss, of the Companies House Service system. βWeβre now in the process of moving to full public access, and then also making sure all the information is released free through that service.β
βUltimately the purpose of the registry is to provide informationβ, Moss continues. βThe registration piece is just the input bit, but actually how do we support the economy? We support the economy by providing data and allowing people to make decisions, compare companies theyβre going to do business with or notβ.
With regard to achieving the projected timeframe for offering all digital data free of charge, Moss remains confident. βWeβre on track to deliver that and we think itβs a game changer for the UK business information market. Itβs a really important thing for Companies House and a big shift for us as an organisationβ.
Upwards of 80% of the data Companies House currently receives is now filed digitally and Moss asserts that their output is around 99.9% digital. βWeβre well on our wayβ he states. βOur aim is to push on the input side to get up to the 90s and beyondβ.
Moss has also made it clear that the digital agenda remains the number one focus for Companies House. The overarching strategy for the agency is to continue evolving until it can truly be considered a register that is completely digital.