Tim Moss
Chief Executive of Companies House
How did you tackle the biggest challenges facing your organisation in 2014?
Following the Strategic Review in 2013, in 2014 Companies House agreed a five-year Strategic Plan. We are not yet a year into the plan, and we have already had a strong start on digital transformation, open data and performance.
Over 80% of information filed with Companies House is now collected digitally – and we’ve announced that all Companies House digital data will be made available free of charge in 2015, making the UK the first country to establish a truly open register of company information and significantly improving corporate transparency.
We are redesigning services, making it easier to file and search, and have been working together with HMRC on a joint filing service; both of these improvements are about making life simpler for customers. We are very pleased that we have achieved a new record of 89% for customer satisfaction, reflecting the great work carried out across the organisation, and our ongoing focus on the customer.
What are your department’s top priorities in the last months before the general election?
For the next couple of months, our priorities are to deliver the next phase of our new service which will enable us to release digital company information for free. As the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill goes through Parliament, we will continue to work with BIS on the measures that will improve the information on the register and reduce the burdens on companies. This will include a register of People of Significant Control, which is a world-leading development in corporate transparency.
What’s your favourite Christmas treat? And what makes you say: ‘Bah, humbug!’?
I love Christmas: there are so many treats, from having the family together to tasting the home-made sloe gin. As for ‘Bah, humbug’; I’m always a glass half-full person, so it’s the half-empty mindset that sends me that way. Unless it’s the sloe gin glass, in which case it should be empty waiting for the refill…