Old filings

Old annual returns (363 and AR01): the personal details they put on the register

Old annual returns put officers' details and shareholder lists on the public register every year, and each one is still there. This guide covers the annual return personal details Companies House holds, and why the number of them matters.

Updated 24 Oct 2026 · 6 min read · By Rayhaan Moughal, Sidekick Accounting

Annual returns were replaced by confirmation statements on 30 June 2016. Before that, a company filed a fresh annual return every year, and each one is a separate document on the register that can repeat your name, occupation and more.

That's why one company can leave a dozen copies of the same personal details behind. If you've been a director or shareholder for a decade, your information may sit on every return from those years.

What did old annual returns show?

The annual return was a yearly snapshot of the company. The current AR01 form on GOV.UK says it confirms the company information is correct "as at the date of this return" and has to be filed at least once every year.

The sections that matter for your privacy are the officer pages and the shareholder lists.

Officers. On the AR01 each individual director gave a name, nationality, country of residence, month and year of birth, business occupation and a service address, all marked as appearing on the public record.
Full date of birth. The AR01 collected it on a separate page that the form says is not shown on the public record. On the earlier 363a, GOV.UK's list of documents Companies House can suppress marks date of birth as removable, so a day of birth can be on the public copy.
Shareholders. On the AR01 a private company lists shareholders by name, class and number of shares, and the form says "Address not required". Only the 5% holder list for certain traded companies has an address column.

Older paper returns in the 363 family could carry more, and the suppression list marks the 363a as removable for date of birth, occupation and address. We read each one individually, because what's on the page depends on the year and the company.

From 363 to CS01

363 eraPaper annual returns (363a)The suppression list marks the 363a as showing date of birth, signature, occupation and address, all removable.
AR01 eraAnnual return under the 2006 ActMonth and year of birth, occupation and service address are public. Full date of birth sits on a page that isn't.
30 June 2016Confirmation statements take overCompanies House's WebFiling help says the confirmation statement has replaced the annual return.

How annual return personal details compare with a confirmation statement

A confirmation statement mostly asks the company to confirm that what's already on the register is right. The current CS01 says you can't use it to tell Companies House about officer changes, which go on separate forms. So the personal details sit on the officer filings, not repeated yearly.

Here's the comparison, using the GOV.UK suppression list and the forms themselves. We've marked a cell "Some" where it depends on the company.

What each form shows. Sources: GOV.UK list of documents Companies House can suppress, and the AR01 and CS01 forms. Companies House decides what it removes.

What each form shows. Sources: GOV.UK list of documents Companies House can suppress, and the AR01 and CS01 forms. Companies House decides what it removes.
	Day of birth	Occupation	Shareholder addresses
363a (paper annual return)List marks DOB, occupation and address removable	✓Yes	✓Yes	Some
AR01 (annual return)Address only in the 5% holder list	Month and year only	✓Yes	Some
CS01 (confirmation statement)No officer or address fields	✗No	✗No	✗No

For the shareholder side, our guide to removing a shareholder address from Companies House goes through where those lists turn up.

Why does one company have so many annual returns?

Because the return was annual. A company incorporated in 2003 and still trading in 2016 could have filed up to a dozen or more, and every one is its own document with its own filing date.

That matters because of how removal is charged. Companies House charges £34 per document, so an application covering a dozen returns is a dozen documents.

Cost of removing details from N annual returns (£34 each)

Cost of removing details from N annual returns (£34 each)
1 return	£34
3 returns	£102
6 returns	£204
9 returns	£306
12 returns	£408

Calculated as £34 multiplied by the number of returns. Example: a fictional company that filed one return every year from 2004 to 2015 has 12 returns. Only returns that show a removable detail count.

You can see the logic in our guide to the SR01 form. Each document is listed separately in Part 4, and you pay for each.

What does a redacted annual return look like?

This is a fictional AR01 for a made-up company. It shows what stays public and what an application can take off.

AR01Registered 14 Feb 2012

Annual return

CompanyNORTHGATE STUDIO LTD

DirectorALEX MORGAN

Month and year of birth07 / 1981

Business occupation

Service address

ShareholdersNames and share numbers only

2 DETAILS REMOVED

Fictional example. Occupation can come off qualifying annual returns, and an address can come off if it's your home.

If the service address on that return was your home, it's the same address that appears on the officer filings. Our guide to what Companies House shows about directors covers where else it appears, and removing your occupation covers that detail on its own.

How do I get personal details removed from old annual returns?

The route is the same SR01 application as for any other filing. See how to complete the SR01 for the part-by-part walk through, and removing your date of birth if a 363a shows the day.

The practical tips for annual returns are:

List the returns that actually show a removable detail, not every return the company filed.
Check each return date. GOV.UK limits day-of-birth removal to documents filed before 10 October 2015.
Pay £34 per return through GOV.UK Pay and keep the payment reference.
Use continuation pages if you have more than three, as Part 4 holds three per page.

If you'd rather see what's there first, run our free scan. It shows results as postcode districts only.

Questions

What is an annual return at Companies House?

It was the yearly snapshot a company had to file before confirmation statements arrived on 30 June 2016. It listed the registered office, officers, share capital and shareholders. Every one stays on the public register as its own document.

Do annual returns show my date of birth?

Older 363a returns are marked on GOV.UK's suppression list as showing a day of birth you can ask to remove. The later AR01 form put the full date of birth on a page that isn't shown on the public record, so the public copy shows month and year only.

Is a confirmation statement the same as an annual return?

They do the same job, but a confirmation statement mainly confirms what Companies House already holds, so it doesn't repeat officer details the way an annual return did. That's why recent filings carry far less personal information than a pile of old returns.

Can I remove my details from every old annual return at once?

You can list as many returns as you like on one SR01 application, but each return is a separate document and costs £34. Companies House decides which of them qualify, so it pays to check each one for a detail that can actually be removed.

Does the confirmation statement still list shareholders?

The form has a shareholder information part for changes, and it's one of the things the company confirms each year. We haven't found address fields for shareholders on the current form, which is a big difference from some older returns.