WhoOwns is a UK-focused ownership lookup guide for checking ownership, control, operation, licensing, regulation and parent-company relationships behind companies, brands, websites, financial products, property, vehicles, media properties, football clubs and trade marks.
Start with a category below, then use the linked guides to understand which public records, registers or official sources verify the current position.
Important: ownership can change. WhoOwns explains what public records, official registers and reliable sources indicate, but it is not legal, financial, tax, regulatory or investment advice. Always check the latest official register before relying on ownership information.
Choose an ownership lookup category
Company ownership
Find the registered company, its shareholders, its people with significant control, and the parent companies and group structures behind UK businesses.
Start here: Company ownership · Practical guide: How to find who owns a company in the UK
Brand ownership
Check which company owns, operates, licenses or sits behind a brand. Useful when the trading name differs from the legal company name — which, for large consumer groups, is most of the time.
Start here: Brand ownership · Practical guide: Brand ownership database
Bank and financial ownership
Find the bank, lender, issuer, broker, platform or authorised firm behind a financial product. Brands sharing one authorised firm also share a single FSCS limit, which is the practical reason to check.
Start here: Bank & financial ownership · Practical guide: UK bank parent companies
Football club ownership
Who owns or controls a football club, including club companies, holding companies, investors and the ownership tests that govern who may buy one.
Start here: Football club ownership · Example: Who owns Manchester City?
Media ownership
The companies, publishers, broadcasters, licence holders and parent groups behind newspapers, broadcasters, radio and music rights.
Start here: Media ownership
Property ownership
How UK land and property records work, and who owns the estates, landmarks and buildings people ask about most.
Start here: Property ownership · Practical guide: How to find who owns a property in the UK
Trade mark ownership
Who owns or has registered a UK trade mark. A trade mark owner is not always the brand operator, and is frequently a holding company that trades with nobody.
Start here: Trade mark ownership · Practical guide: UK trade mark owner search
Vehicle ownership
What vehicle records can and cannot tell you. A number plate will not reveal who owns a car, and the registered keeper is not necessarily the legal owner.
Start here: Vehicle ownership · Practical guide: How to find a vehicle’s registered keeper
Domain ownership
How to find who is behind a website or domain using RDAP and registry records, and what to do when the registrant is withheld.
Start here: Domain ownership · Practical guide: How to find who owns a domain name
Sports ownership
Teams, leagues, promotions and venues beyond football — the investment groups, families and corporate structures behind them.
Start here: Sports ownership
Ownership lookup guides
Method guides for every category: which official record answers which question, what each one shows, and where it stops.
Start here: Ownership lookup guides
How WhoOwns verifies ownership
Every ownership claim on this site is traced through primary records — the Companies House register and its PSC filings, HM Land Registry, the FCA Register, the UK IPO trade mark register and registry RDAP — rather than summarised from secondary reporting. Each profile names the relationship precisely, because proprietor, operator, licensee, parent and ultimate owner are different things and are routinely confused.
Profiles carry the date their ownership was last verified. Where the evidence is incomplete or disputed, they say so instead of choosing the tidier answer.