Companies House the UK Business Registry makes available and free of charge the Accounts of the companies in XBRL. See http://download.companieshouse.gov.uk/en_accountsdata.html
Presse Release
Companies House Free Accounts Data Product
Companies House becomes a world leader in providing iXBRL accounts data free of charge.
Today, Companies House launches its Free Accounts Data Product. For the first time the public will have access to statutory accounts in data format, allowing users greater opportunity and flexibility to manipulate accounts data.
Releasing the data free of charge will demonstrate the UK’s commitment to leading the field in open data. Making this information available free of charge in data format will open up financial data on companies, increasing transparency and making data analysis more efficient.
Business Minister Michael Fallon said:
"The UK is at the forefront of a data revolution. Today’s free release of company accounts data by Companies House is an excellent example of how we are increasing access to data and transparency.
Open company data can benefit everyone – whether it’s entrepreneurs, taxpayers, businesses or the public sector. Better data efficiency encourages innovation, delivers better public services and stimulates growth through new revenue streams.”
Chris Taggart, CEO of Open Corporates said:
“In publishing company accounts as open data Companies House is leading the world, and shows it understands the importance of public, free and reusable information for scrutiny, creating a good business environment, and also fostering innovation and growth.”
As part of the Public Data Group (PDG), Companies House is committed to the UK government’s open data agenda. The Free Accounts Data Product was developed with funding from the Public Sector Transparency Board.
Market impact
Initial discussions with the market have provided evidence that there would be significant demand for a company accounts data, and issuing the product with no fee attached would remove any barriers to entry, providing an opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Open data supporters have argued that offering free data allows great opportunities for innovation and for the market to develop more effectively.
At 28% of all purchased company information, accounts are the most accessed set of information on the register of companies (after basic company details, which are also available free of charge). As a core piece of information, accounts underpin significant economic activity; from the credit reference industry to individual companies assessing the financial health of a potential client or customer.
Notes
On average, around 5,000 sets of accounts are filed electronically with Companies House each day, with almost 97% of those filed in iXBRL format.
The free service is updated daily on the Companies House website and offers an easy to download file containing the individual iXBRL or XBRL data of all accounts registered electronically the previous day. A year’s worth of previous data is also available as monthly files.
Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL), and its predecessor XBRL, are globally recognised computer languages used for the exchange of financial information.
The Public Data Group (PDG) is made up of four government trading funds, including Companies House, Land Registry, Met Office and Ordnance Survey. The group aims to maximise the value and access of the data it holds, while reducing costs through efficiencies and synergies.
You can download accounts data for free at:
download.companieshouse.gov.uk/en_accountsdata.html
Companies House
1 November 2013
