How do I find UK businesses that registered a new charge at Companies House?

To find UK businesses that have registered a new charge, you look at the charges register on each company's Companies House record, or you watch new charge filings across the whole register and filter them. A charge is security a company gives a lender in return for a loan, so a newly registered one is a dated, public sign that the company has just borrowed money or refinanced.

Done by hand, this works for a handful of named companies and does not work for discovery. Companies House lets you open a company and read its charges, but it is built for looking up a company you already know. Finding every company that filed a charge this week, in your sector and region, needs the filings read in bulk.

What a charge is

A charge, sometimes called a mortgage in the register, gives a lender rights over a company asset or group of assets. A fixed charge usually attaches to a specific asset such as a building or vehicle. A floating charge covers a class of assets that changes over time, such as stock or debtors.

A company must deliver the charge to Companies House within 21 days, beginning the day after it is created, using form MR01. That deadline is why the register is a reasonably fresh record: most charges appear within three weeks of the lender and company agreeing the deal.

Why a new charge is a reason to call

A charge does not tell you the company is in trouble. Most are ordinary lending. What it does tell you is that something financial has just happened, and that gives a seller a specific and truthful opening.

It suits some sellers more than others. Asset finance brokers, commercial insurers, accountants, business advisers, fit-out and equipment suppliers and recruiters can all link a conversation to new borrowing. If the charge is over land or buildings, a property-related seller has a stronger opening than someone selling software. Read the charge before you call: the register names the lender and describes what is secured.

A practical way to do it

Start from the sector and region you sell to, so a week's filings reduce to a list you could actually call. Read the lender and the description of the secured assets. Check whether the company is part of a larger group, because a charge at a subsidiary may be group-level lending decided elsewhere.

Then look for a second signal. A charge alongside a new director, a new site or a senior hire is a much better reason to call than a charge alone. Keep the link to the filing so you can check it before you ring and so a colleague can too.

Weekly volumes move a great deal. Lockley's index shows 8,163 charges one week and 3,630 the next, so a single week is not a trend. Treat the count as the size of your haystack, not a forecast.

How Lockley handles it

Lockley reads Companies House filings, including charges, every night, and gives a small B2B sales team a short list of companies to call each morning, each with the public record that says why now. Each finding links to the record it came from, so a seller can check it before calling. Lockley does not sell contact lists or bulk email data.

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