Your latest update from Companies House

In this newsletter:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        March 2025

• a reminder for third-party providers that Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) registration is now open
• Information Commissioner’s Office changes its data protection fee
• Department for Business and Trade wants to hear from you about balancing business success with wider responsibilities
• Intellectual Property Office launches the Design Protection Survey for design-led businesses

Registration is now open for third-party providers to register as an ACSP

If you’re a third-party provider who plans to carry out identity verification checks for Companies House on behalf of your clients, you’ll need to register your business as an ACSP.

Your business must already be registered with an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisory body. Make sure you have your membership number ready for your ACSP application. If this isn’t correct, your application will be rejected.

In the future, all businesses who file information on behalf of clients will need to register as an ACSP.

Information Commissioner’s Office changes its data protection fee

On 17 February, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) made changes to the ICO data protection fee.

This fee increase will support the ICO’s ongoing work, including providing advice and resources to help small and medium organisations comply with data protection law.

The ICO has created a self-assessment tool which allows you to check:

• if you need to pay a fee
• which fee amount
• if you need to register your exemption

Get involved: balancing business success with wider responsibilities

The Department for Business and Trade is researching how company directors balance their legal duty to make the business successful, while considering the interests of employees, customers, suppliers, communities and the environment (section 172 of the Companies Act).

There are no plans to change these duties, but your feedback will help the government to review how this legislation works in practice.

Have your say: the Design Protection Survey

The UK government has launched its Design Protection Survey to consult designers, design-led businesses and anyone who uses the design intellectual property (IP) system, about their design priorities.

Ahead of a formal consultation later in the year, they want to understand more about users’ priorities for the system.

The survey closes on 1 April 2025.