The National Archives, UK

What The National Archives, UK does

The National Archives is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government and for England and Wales, operating under the Public Records Act 1958 and the direction of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Headquartered at Kew, Richmond (Surrey), the organisation safeguards over 1,000 years of national documentary heritage spanning more than 15 million historical records, with an additional 9.7 million Ministry of Defence service personnel records transferring over a six-year window from February 2021. It was renamed from the Public Record Office in 2003 and operates with approximately 1,125 staff.

The core technical platform is Discovery, an online catalogue and search engine providing public access to the archival collection, supplemented by a developer-facing API. Adjacent wholly-operated digital properties include the UK Government Web Archive, Legislation.gov.uk, Find Case Law, and The Gazette, plus an internal National Archives Design System for service consistency. Physical operations comprise reading rooms requiring a reader's ticket, exhibitions, an education programme, a retail shop, image licensing via the Image Library, and a podcast series. Certifications include partial WCAG 2.2 AA compliance and GDPR-aligned licensing frameworks, including the Open Government Licence v3.0 which underpins UK public sector information reuse.

The business model is predominantly grant-funded through HM Government allocations as a non-ministerial department, with supplemental commercial revenue from record copying, shop merchandise, image licensing, and event/exhibition fees. Customer segments are diversified across five groups: the general public and family historians (primary), academic and research communities, UK government departments (for FOI compliance and record transfer), the education sector, and other archives/records management organisations. Customer acquisition is multi-channel: physical visit, Discovery search, social media (X, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr), the On the Record podcast, collection blogs, email newsletter, and earned media through press coverage of collection discoveries.

Name

The National Archives, UK

Legal name

The National Archives

Website

https://nationalarchives.gov.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The National Archives is a UK government department serving as the official archive and publisher for the UK Government and England and Wales, preserving over 1,000 years of national documents across 15 million records for the public, researchers, educators, and government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Archival and Records Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

National Archives, Records & Information Governance (BPAIAAAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF), Government & Public Policy Publishing (Regulations, Gazettes, Legislative Tracking) (MPAJACAI), Government, Public Policy & Regulatory Reference (Public Administration, Regulatory Guidance) (EDAGAGAK), Document Scanning, Digitization & Archival Reproduction (Records, Transcripts, Microform) (EDAEAJAI)

Keywords

• Government archival services
• Public records preservation
• Freedom of information
• Digital preservation systems
• Historical document access

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond, Surrey

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: As a non-ministerial government department, The National Archives is primarily funded through HM Government budget allocations. Under the direction of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
2. Record Copying Services: The organisation charges for copying documents and records. As stated in terms and conditions: 'As a government department, we are obliged to charge for some of our public services, including research and record copying.'
3. Shop Sales: The organisation operates a shop (shop.nationalarchives.gov.uk) selling archival products, publications, and merchandise.
4. Event and Exhibition Services: Revenue from exhibition visits, events, and educational programmes at The National Archives facility.
5. Image Licensing: Commercial licensing of archival images and reproductions through the Image Library (images.nationalarchives.gov.uk).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The National Archives is the official archive and publisher for the UK Government and for England and Wales, safeguarding over 1,000 years of national documentation including more than 15 million historical government and public records. It provides public access to these records through physical reading rooms at Kew, an online catalogue called Discovery, and a portfolio of supporting digital services including the UK Government Web Archive, Legislation.gov.uk, Find Case Law, and The Gazette. The organisation also manages Freedom of Information compliance, professional guidance for the archives sector, and licensing of public sector information through the Open Government Licence.

Product overview

The National Archives is a non-ministerial government department and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. It maintains over 1,000 years of national documents across both physical and digital formats. The core product is Discovery, an online catalogue providing access to over 15 million records. Supporting digital products include the UK Government Web Archive, Legislation.gov.uk, Find Case Law, and The Gazette. The National Archives also operates physical services including Document Reading Rooms and Exhibitions. A public API enables developers to programmatically query the catalogue database. Additional offerings include the On the Record Podcast and the National Archives Design System.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Discovery (Online Catalogue) Online research catalogue and database providing access to over 15 million historical government and public records spanning 1,000 years. Allows users to search records, browse catalogue entries, submit FOI requests, and order copies of records for research. Used by the general public, academic researchers, government departments, and the archives sector.
• UK Government Web Archive Web archiving service that preserves UK government websites and makes them accessible for future reference when original sites are no longer available. Used by researchers, the general public, and government departments for historical and reference purposes.
• Legislation.gov.uk Official website for UK legislation providing access to current and historic UK legislation. Used by legal professionals, government departments, the public, and researchers needing authoritative legislative texts.
• Find Case Law Public access service for case law judgments and tribunal decisions from UK Superior Courts. Used by legal professionals, academics, journalists, and the public.
• The Gazette Official public record newspaper for the UK, publishing statutory announcements including company liquidations, insolvency notices, and London Gazette, Edinburgh Gazette, and Belfast Gazette entries. Used by legal professionals, businesses, and government departments.
• Document Reading Rooms On-site research facilities at the Kew headquarters where registered readers with a valid reader's ticket can access original archival documents in person. Used by academic researchers, family historians, legal professionals, and government researchers.
• Exhibitions Programme Physical and digital exhibitions showcasing historic documents and records from the collection, including free and paid exhibitions at the Kew venue. Used by the general public, educational groups, and cultural visitors.
• Discovery API Developer-facing Application Programming Interface that allows programmatic querying of the Discovery catalogue search engine and database. Used by third-party developers, publishers, researchers, and data consumers to integrate archival catalogue data into their own applications and services.
• National Archives Design System Shared design system and component library used across The National Archives' digital services to ensure consistency, accessibility, and usability. Used by internal product teams and external developers building services consistent with the National Archives brand.
• Image Library and Licensing Service Commercial licensing service offering high-resolution digital reproductions of archival images for editorial, commercial, and educational use. Used by publishers, broadcasters, designers, educators, and media organisations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95-100% FOI compliance rate achieved in 2025 following improvement programme
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Ministry of Defence (MOD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2021From February 2021, the Ministry of Defence began transferring historic service personnel records to The National Archives. This collection of over 9.7 million records is being transferred over a 6-year period and will nearly double the number of orderable records at The National Archives.
• His Majesty's Government Security Policy FrameworkcoreOthersThe National Archives operates under HM Government's Security Policy Framework and cooperates with law enforcement bodies including the police regarding personal information requests.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives): Germany's federal archive; comparable mandate in a different jurisdiction — relevant peer for international benchmarking of digital archive services and government records custody.

Broad incumbents

• British Library: UK national library with overlapping research, digitization, and digital infrastructure roles; a broader incumbent with adjacent mandate around national collections rather than government records specifically.
• Library of Congress: U.S. national library combining library, research, and archival-adjacent functions; a broader incumbent with overlapping catalogue, digital access, and government-publication roles.

Direct peers

• Library and Archives Canada (LAC): Canadian federal institution combining national library and archival functions; directly comparable as a national-level archive providing public access, government records custody, and digital catalogue services.
• National Archives of Ireland: Ireland's national archive; directly comparable as a state archive holding government records, operating reading rooms, and providing FOI-adjacent services.
• National Records of Scotland (NRS): Scottish equivalent operating under devolved legislation; performs the same statutory public-records and archival functions within Scotland that TNA performs for England and Wales.
• U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): Federal archive of the United States; serves the closest analogous role to TNA as the official national archives and records authority, managing federal records, providing research access, and publishing legislation-adjacent services.
• National Archives of Australia (NAA): Australian federal archive agency responsible for Commonwealth records; comparable mandate around preserving government records, FOI support, and providing public research access.
• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI): Northern Ireland's public record office; provides direct statutory peer comparison under separate devolved arrangements, offering a similar catalogue, reading room, and government records service.

Others

• The National Archives Trust (UK): Charitable arm linked to TNA providing fundraising and grant support for archives sector projects; ecosystem enabler rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/UKNatArchives
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/TheNationalArchivesUK
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheNationalArchives
• Instagraminstagram.com/nationalarchivesuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-national-archives-uk

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The National Archives, UK