External Source Material

If your archive collection is missing key records or time-spans
you can contact external archives to try and fill the gaps in your
knowledge:

National and regional newspaper articles – identify and
report key events, ‘people’ news, and provide evidence
of early advertising. Copies of regional newspapers are available
at reference libraries. They are usually indexed and may be
available on-line. National (as well as regional) newspapers are kept by the British
Library Newspapers at Colindale and are available onine.

Over time your business will probably have interacted with many
other businesses and authorities whether as customer, partner,
supplier etc. You may find references and records relating to your
company within public sector archives or private corporate
archives. Use your local records office or the Discovery catalogue managed by The National Archives as a starting point for enquiry.

For public limited companies, Companies House keeps copies of
key business records such as their Memorandum and Articles of
Association, Register of Directors and Shareholders. For current free information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges and business activity see the Companies House website.