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Form EH03 UK: Elect to Use the Central Register

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Part ofCompanies House Forms UK

Written by Brad Askew Solicitor (non-practising)
Brad is on the roll of solicitors of England & Wales but does not hold a practising certificate and does not provide legal advice.
Updated June 2026 · England & Wales
If you run a private limited company in the UK, you have a choice about where certain statutory information is kept. One option is to hold your own internal register of secretaries at your registered office. The other is to let Companies House hold that information for you on the central public register. Form EH03 is the notice you file when you want to take the second route. Once the election is accepted, you no longer need to maintain a separate internal register for secretaries, and the information on the public record becomes the authoritative source. This page walks you through what the form does, who can sign it, what to put in each box, and the practical points worth thinking about before you commit to the change. Written by Brad Askew, Legal Tech Founder with a background in civil and commercial law.

What this document is

Form EH03 is the Companies House notice a private company uses to elect that its register of secretaries be held on the central register rather than at the company's own registered office or single alternative inspection location. The election is made under section 279A of the Companies Act 2006, which applies specifically to the register of secretaries (the equivalent election for directors uses a separate form, and there are parallel forms for members and for directors' residential addresses).

In practice, what this means is that the secretary information you would otherwise hold on your own paper or electronic register is kept and displayed by Companies House instead. You still have to keep that information accurate and up to date, but you do so by filing with the registrar rather than by updating an internal book.

The election can be made by the subscribers at the point of incorporation, or by the company itself at any time after it has been registered. The election continues until the company gives notice to withdraw it.

How to use this document

  1. Check that the election suits your company. Before filing, think about whether you are comfortable with secretary information sitting on the public register with no separate internal copy. Most small private companies find it simpler, but if you use a secretarial services provider or have unusual arrangements, weigh that up first. 2. Get the company number and details ready. You will need the company's registered number (available via the Companies House search service), the full company name exactly as registered, and the current details of any secretaries that will need to appear on the central register. Check spellings and dates carefully, as inaccuracies can delay acceptance. 3. Complete form EH03. Fill in the company number, company name, and the authorising signatory's details. The form is short, but every field matters. If you are filing for a Societas Europaea, you need to strike through 'director' on the signature section and replace it with a note of which SE organ the signatory sits on. 4. Have an authorised person sign. The signature must come from someone with authority to bind the company for filing purposes. This typically means a director or company secretary, but it can also be a person authorised by the company, or an office-holder such as a liquidator, administrator, receiver, CIC manager, or judicial factor where one is in place. 5. File the form with Companies House. Submit the completed EH03 to the registrar. Once processed, the election takes effect and the company's secretary information will be maintained on the central register going forward. Keep a copy of the filed form with your company records, and update your internal procedures so that any future changes are notified to Companies House rather than written into an internal register.

Common questions

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Common questions

Q What does electing to keep the register on the central register actually change?
Once the election is in place, you no longer need to keep and update your own internal register of secretaries at the registered office. Instead, the information held by Companies House on the public register serves that role. You still have to notify changes to the registrar promptly, so the duty to keep information current does not go away, it just shifts location.
Q Who is allowed to sign form EH03?
The form can be signed by a director, a company secretary, a person the company has authorised to file on its behalf, or an office-holder such as a liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver and manager, charity commission receiver and manager, CIC manager, or judicial factor. For a Societas Europaea, the signatory role needs to be adjusted to reflect the organ of the SE they sit on.
Q Can any company use form EH03?
The election under section 279A is available to private companies. Public companies, and certain other entities, cannot make this election in the same way. If your company has a company secretary appointed (which is optional for most private companies but mandatory for public ones), the election is about where the register of that secretary's details is kept, not whether you must have one.
Q Is there a fee for filing EH03?
Filing the election itself is generally straightforward through Companies House. Fees and filing options can change, so check the current position on gov.uk before you file. If you are filing a bundle of incorporation documents at the same time, the usual incorporation fee structure applies separately.
Q Can the election be reversed later?
Yes. A company that has made the election can later give notice to withdraw it, at which point the company must resume keeping its own register of secretaries. You would need to reconstruct the internal register from the information held centrally as at the withdrawal date, so it is worth thinking about the longer term before switching back and forth.
Q What happens if the secretary information on the central register is wrong?
While the election is in force, the information on the central register is treated as the company's register for the purposes of the Act. Inaccuracies can have real consequences, so you should file corrections or appointment and termination notices promptly using the appropriate Companies House forms. Good record-keeping internally is still sensible, even if it is no longer the statutory register.
Q Do I need legal help to file EH03?
The form itself is short and most company officers can complete it without assistance. Where it helps to speak to someone is when you are weighing up whether the election is right for your company, or when your governance arrangements are slightly unusual. A short call with an experienced legal adviser can give you a practical perspective based on what you describe.
If you're dealing with this kind of situation, speak to an experienced legal adviser who can walk you through it — from £89.

Sources

This guide is based on primary UK law and official guidance.

Brad Askew, Solicitor (non-practising)

Written & reviewed by

Brad Askew Solicitor (non-practising)

Brad is on the roll of solicitors of England & Wales but does not hold a practising certificate and does not provide legal advice. LegalDocuments.co.uk is not a law firm and does not provide regulated legal advice.

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Legal disclaimer
This article is for general information only. It is a tool to help you find your way — not legal advice, and not a substitute for speaking to a qualified adviser about your situation.