Persons with Significant Control (PSC): The Complete Guide
A company's registered directors are not always the people who truly control it. The Persons with Significant Control (PSC) register exists to reveal the individuals and entities pulling the strings behind the scenes. This guide explains what a PSC is, the legal conditions that define one, and how you can use the register to understand who really owns and controls a UK company.
What is a Person with Significant Control?
A Person with Significant Control is an individual or legal entity that owns or controls a UK company. Since 2016, almost every UK company and limited liability partnership has been required to identify its PSCs and report them to Companies House. The aim is simple: to make the ultimate ownership of a company a matter of public record, so that anyone can see who stands behind the business rather than just the names of the directors who run it day to day. A company can have one PSC, several, or in rare cases none at all — though it must always state which situation applies.
The conditions that make someone a PSC
A person qualifies as a PSC if they meet one or more of five conditions. The first three are based on clear, measurable thresholds: holding more than 25% of the company's shares, holding more than 25% of the voting rights, or holding the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors. The remaining two conditions are broader and capture less obvious control: the right to exercise, or actually exercising, significant influence or control over the company; and the same kind of influence or control over a trust or firm that itself meets any of the first four conditions. These last conditions are deliberately wide so that someone cannot hide their control behind an intermediary arrangement.
Where PSC data appears
Every company files its PSC information with Companies House, the UK's official registrar. On the public register, each PSC entry shows the person's name, the month and year of birth, nationality, country of residence and the nature of their control — for example, "ownership of shares more than 25% but not more than 50%". On BizLookup, this same data is presented in a cleaner, more readable layout alongside the company's other key details, so you can scan ownership at a glance. You can review a full company record using our guide to checking a company, which walks through every section of a profile.
Why the register exists
The PSC register was introduced to improve corporate transparency and to support efforts against money laundering, tax evasion and other financial crime. Before it existed, it was often possible to obscure who truly benefited from a company by layering ownership through nominee shareholders and overseas structures. By forcing companies to declare their beneficial owners publicly, the register helps banks, investors, journalists and the public hold businesses to account. It also brings the UK in line with international standards on beneficial ownership transparency.
PSC vs director vs shareholder
It is easy to confuse these three roles, but they are distinct. A director is appointed to manage the company and is legally responsible for running it, yet may own no shares at all. A shareholder owns part of the company but may have no involvement in its management. A PSC is whoever ultimately controls the company, whether through shares, votes, board appointments or significant influence. The same person can hold all three roles, or each role can belong to a different party. To explore the management side specifically, see our guide to finding company directors.
Using PSC data to see who really controls a company
To understand real control, start with the PSC register rather than the list of directors. Look at the nature of control for each PSC: a single person holding more than 75% of shares and votes effectively controls the company outright, while several PSCs each holding between 25% and 50% suggests shared control. Where a PSC is itself a corporate entity, trace that entity's own ownership to find the ultimate individuals. Combining PSC data with shareholder and director information gives you a complete picture of how power is distributed. If you are researching ownership across many companies at once — for sales, compliance or due diligence — our lead lists can help you work at scale. You can begin any search from the BizLookup home page.