Companies House Embarks On Digital Transformation

Companies House (CH), a division of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) responsible for incorporating and dissolving limited companies, has announced its plans to become “digital by default.”

The organisation’s Strategic Plan 2014-19 outlines the way it intends to transform the way customers and businesses interact with CH over the next five years.

According to the body, it will become a “100% digital organisation,” provide open data that fully links with other government data on companies, improve register integrity and simplify registration fees.

In order to bring about its digital transformation, CH will be developing new digital services as well as improving those that already exist.

The plan claims current digital filing and search services will be “significantly improved” and replaced by a singular services by April 2015.

In October 2014, CH intends to launch the first phase of a new joint filing accounts service with HMRC, with the aim of improving customer service and to demonstrate its credentials as an effective collaborator.

Cost Savings Expected

The organisation hopes that the changes it is making will lead costs to fall from £66.3m in 2014/15 to £50.4m in 2018/19.

“Our plan centres on the themes of our customers, our people and our finances,” says the plan document.

“These central themes link directly to the three key principles under which CH operates: better and simpler for customers, better and simpler for staff and value for money,” it adds.

CH notes that its internal processes will also be changed over the period of the plan to ensure that its commitment to “100% digital” applies as much to non-customer facing activities as well a external services.

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