Trading Signals: how the score works

What Trading Signals is

Trading Signals is a single 0–100 score, with supporting sub-scores, that summarises what the public Companies House record suggests about a UK company. It exists to let you read a company at a glance — is it active, is it being administered properly, how established is it — without working through its status, filing history and officers by hand.

It is deliberately observational and deterministic: it describes public facts, and the same public record always produces the same score. Every contributing signal is shown alongside the score, so you can see why a company scored as it did rather than trusting a black box.

What it is not

This matters, so we state it plainly. Trading Signals is not a credit score, not a credit reference, and not regulated financial or credit advice. Company Shark is not a credit reference agency. The score uses no bank data, no payment or trade-reference history, and no private or personal financial information — only the public register. It is one input to your own due diligence, not a recommendation to deal, or not deal, with any company.

The inputs

All inputs come from the public Companies House record:

• Company status — whether the company is active, dormant, in an insolvency process, or subject to a proposal to strike off. See our company status glossary entry.
• Age and incorporation date — how long the company has existed, since a longer track record generally carries more information than a brand-new incorporation.
• Filing history and timeliness — whether accounts and confirmation statements are filed, and filed on time, versus overdue or missing.
• Officer stability — the pattern of director and secretary appointments and resignations over time.
• Registered charges — mortgages or other security registered against the company, which indicate borrowing secured on its assets.

The sub-scores

The headline number is built from three readable dimensions, each shown separately so you can see where a company is strong or weak:

• Trading — signals consistent with an operating, active company (active status, ongoing filings, an established age).
• Stability — how settled the company looks over time: steady officers, a regular filing cadence, no abrupt changes.
• Record discipline — how well the company keeps its statutory obligations up to date, since on-time filing is a small but genuine sign of a well-run company.

How to read a score

Treat the score as a starting point that tells you where to look, not a conclusion. A high score means the public record shows nothing concerning and several positive signals; a low score means something on the record warrants a closer look before you commit. Two companies can share a score for very different reasons, which is why we always show the underlying signals.

Limitations

The register is a partial picture. It does not show revenue, profitability, cash flow, order books or how a company treats its customers and suppliers. Small companies file abbreviated accounts, so there is genuinely less to go on. A newly incorporated company has almost no filing history yet, so its score reflects that uncertainty rather than any judgement about its prospects. Always combine Trading Signals with your own checks — a conversation, references, and, where the stakes justify it, a formal credit report from a regulated agency.

Frequently asked