On the Companies House register, the term "active" refers to the legal status of the company—meaning it is legally incorporated and has not been dissolved. It does not reflect whether the company is actively trading or dormant in a financial or operational sense.

Companies House does not publicly display trading status (i.e. whether a company is trading or dormant). Therefore, even if your company is not conducting any business and is considered dormant for accounting or tax purposes, it will still be listed as "active" on the Companies House register unless it is formally dissolved.

You can identify whether a company is dormant by reviewing its filing history. If the company has passed its first accounting reference date and has filed dormant company accounts, this indicates that the company has had no significant financial activity and is being treated as dormant. These filings are available under the "Filing History" tab on the company’s profile on the Companies House website.

In summary:

• "Active" on Companies House means the company is legally in existence (not dissolved).
• It does not indicate whether the company is trading or dormant.
• Trading status can be inferred by checking the type of accounts filed — dormant accounts suggest the company is not trading.