Guernsey company search: free to look, £15 to see the directors

The Registry moved to a new Online Services Portal in December 2023. The old greg.gg links you'll find in older guides no longer lead to search. Start from the Registry's own company searches page.

1. Type a name or a number

   At least three characters in the Entity Search box. The number no longer needs its old prefix.

   Free, no login
2. Open the company's page

   Three tabs: Profile, Officials and Events. Try each one on the mock-up below.

3. Order what the free page lacks

   Documents sit on the right of the page. Check out as a guest with a name, an email and a card.

4. Wait minutes, sometimes a day

   Scanned files arrive on processing. Older paper files aim for 24 hours, and January and February run slower while annual validation floods in.

Two dead ends worth knowing. The Registry won't run a search for you, and you can't search by a director's name or a home address. If a name returns nothing, try the number from the company's letterhead or invoice: every Guernsey company must show it.

Under the Registry's company fee schedule, in force since 1 December 2025, the £15 is for email delivery; e-certified copies are £50 and certified paper £100.

Price your order

Tick what you need and pick a delivery. The total uses today's fees, or an estimate for orders from 1 December 2026, when the Registry's October 2026 update says fees go up by 4.3%.

Three things older guides get wrong

The Registrar certifies the Statement as a full extract of everything public on the electronic register. That makes it the single most useful £15 in Guernsey due diligence. Here's how the Registry's own sample statement is laid out.

What it won't show: home addresses, dates of birth, nationality, shareholders, accounts or the secretary. Filings made before 1 July 2008 may be incomplete, and director start dates can reflect the 2008 re-registration rather than the real first day.

Since the 2008 annual return, shareholder information isn't kept by the Registry. It lives in two other places, each with its own door.

Asking to see the register of members

Members and directors look for free. Anyone else may inspect it in business hours on paying the fee set by regulation, or a lower fee the company picks, according to the Registry's note on documents held at the registered office. Your request gives your name and address, your purpose, and who you'll pass the data to.

The company then has five working days to comply or go to court. The court can refuse you if the purpose isn't a proper one. So a supplier checking a buyer will usually get in; a curious stranger might not.

The beneficial ownership register

Not public, and not proposed to be. Guernsey banks, lawyers, accountants and other regulated firms can request an entry through the Registry for £75 each, answered by the next business day, under the Registry's obliged entity rules. They receive name, date of birth, nationality, country of residence and the grounds of ownership, never the home address.

A wider route for people with a legitimate interest in fighting financial crime was put out for consultation from February to April 2026. No decision had been published by 13 November 2026.

The search result shows one status word. The Registry's company status guide lists them all. Pick the one you see.

A Certificate of Good Standing (£15) confirms the company remains on the register, with its incorporation date. If a bank asks for it, order the £50 e-certified version. For use abroad, the apostille comes from HM Greffe, not the Registry; law firms report about £40 for the standard service.

Say a new supplier asks you to wire a £40,000 deposit to "Sample Harbour Limited, Guernsey". Here's the routine, in order, with what each step costs at today's fees.

1. Minute 1
   Free search by exact name and numberStatus Normal? Registration date fits the story? Office matches the letterhead?
   £0
2. Minute 5
   Statement of the RegisterDo the directors match the people you're dealing with? Any recent mass change?
   £15
3. Minute 10
   Certificate of Good StandingWorth it when the sum is large or a bank wants it on file.
   £15
4. Minute 12
   Look up the firm behind itFind the resident agent or administrator on the GFSC regulated entities list. A company calling itself a bank, fund or insurer must be there too.
   £0
5. Day 1
   Ask for the owners directlyA genuine counterparty sends a register of members extract. If not, request inspection at the registered office.
   Fee set by the company
6. Total
   Before you wire a pennyTwo Registry items and two free lookups.
   £30

Red flags

• A name with Bank, Fund or Insurance and no GFSC licence.
• Any status other than Normal, especially Registered Office Not Effective.
• All directors replaced in the weeks before you were contacted.
• A refusal to show the register of members when you have a clear business reason.

A Guernsey company is always formed and run by a licensed provider, so its address and the resident agent are the provider's. Here's how each role you might hold shows up, for a company we form with you as director and sole member.

Want a different name on the £15 Statement? A nominee director takes the director's seat; we price it before you order. Our Guernsey company costs £2,490 in year one and £2,590 a year after, with the registration fee and the yearly validation fee inside.