The Gazette: UK Insolvency Notices Explained

What is The Gazette?

The Gazette (thegazette.co.uk) is the UK's official public record of statutory and legal notices. Published continuously since 1665, it is the authoritative source for insolvency proceedings, company dissolutions, regulatory changes, and other legally required announcements.

For credit controllers and anyone extending trade credit, The Gazette is one of the most important — and most underused — free resources available.

Why The Gazette Matters for Credit Risk

The critical insight is timing. Gazette notices often appear before Companies House records are updated. When a company is subject to a winding-up petition or administration appointment, the legal requirement to advertise it in The Gazette typically precedes the company status change on Companies House by days or even weeks.

This means a credit controller who checks The Gazette can identify a company in serious financial distress before it becomes publicly obvious from the company status alone.

Types of Insolvency Notices in The Gazette

Winding-Up Petitions

A creditor (or the company itself) has applied to court to wind up the company. This is not yet a formal insolvency — the petition may be withdrawn or dismissed — but it is a serious signal that a creditor believes the company cannot pay its debts. Extending credit to a company subject to an active winding-up petition is extremely high risk.

Appointment of Administrator

An administrator has been appointed to manage the company's affairs and attempt a rescue or orderly wind-down. All unsecured creditors should treat invoices to this company as at high risk of non-recovery.

Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation (CVL)

The company's directors have resolved to wind up the company voluntarily. A liquidator is appointed to realise assets and distribute them to creditors. Any outstanding invoices should be registered with the liquidator as a creditor claim.

Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)

The company proposes to repay a portion of its debts over time. This is a rescue mechanism — the company continues trading, but creditors agree to accept reduced or deferred payments. A CVA entry means the company has significant financial difficulty but is attempting to avoid full liquidation.

Striking-Off Notice

Companies House intends to strike the company from the register (typically for failure to file). This appears in The Gazette giving creditors and third parties notice to object. A company being struck off is not necessarily insolvent, but trading with it creates legal risk.

How to Search The Gazette

The Gazette has a search function at thegazette.co.uk that allows you to search by company name or registered number. You can filter by notice type — for credit risk purposes, select the insolvency and striking-off categories.

The limitation of manual searching is that it requires knowing to check. FinancialInsight searches The Gazette automatically for every company you analyse, returning all insolvency-related notices and feeding the results directly into the credit score.

The Gazette and Directors

An important but less-known feature: The Gazette also records disqualification orders against company directors. A director who has been disqualified is prohibited from acting as a director for a specified period. Checking whether a company's directors have disqualification entries is an important part of KYC for higher-value relationships.

Practical Steps for Credit Controllers

Make it part of your onboarding checklist. Before opening a credit account for any new customer, run a Gazette check. On FinancialInsight this takes seconds and is free on all plans.

Set alert thresholds. For your highest-value customers, consider using a monitoring service that alerts you when a Gazette notice is published. Time is critical — you have a narrow window between a winding-up petition being filed and the company's assets being frozen.

Treat any Gazette entry as serious. Even a striking-off notice that has been subsequently withdrawn should prompt you to review the credit terms and relationship.

Key Takeaways

• The Gazette publishes UK insolvency events before Companies House status changes — giving you a critical early-warning window
• Winding-up petitions, administration appointments, CVLs, and CVAs all appear in The Gazette
• Check The Gazette as part of every credit onboarding process — it is free and publicly available
• FinancialInsight searches The Gazette automatically as part of every credit check
• Any active Gazette entry for a company should trigger an immediate review of credit exposure