# Register a Company in the UK — complete site content Generated 2026-09-09 from https://registeracompanyintheuk.com. This file contains the full text of every page on the site. Prices are current at the date above; Companies House statutory fees are published by Companies House and shown here separately from our own fees. ## Prices Companies House statutory fees (set and collected by Companies House, passed on at cost, effective 1 February 2026): - Incorporation: £100 digital, £124 paper - Same-day incorporation: £156 digital - Confirmation statement: £50 digital, £110 paper - Change of company name: £20 digital, £30 paper - Same-day change of name: £85 digital - Voluntary strike off: £13 digital, £18 paper - Registration of a charge: £14 digital, £24 paper Our formation fees (Our fees exclude VAT at 20%. Companies House fees are outside the scope of VAT.): - Essential — £12.99 plus £100 Companies House fee. For: A UK resident using their own address. Includes: Incorporation at Companies House; Digital certificate of incorporation; Memorandum and articles of association; Share certificates for the founding shareholders; Statutory registers, ready to maintain; Corporation tax registration and your company UTR; A 30-minute call with an accountant, at no charge and with nothing to sign; An online account showing your company, its filings and its deadlines. - Privacy — £49.99 plus £100 Companies House fee. For: Keeping a home address off the public register. Includes: Everything in Essential; Registered office address for one year; Director service address for one year; Statutory mail scanned and notified; Address changes filed for you. - Trading — £99.99 plus £100 Companies House fee. For: Trading from day one. Includes: Everything in Privacy; Business trading address for one year; All business mail received, logged and scanned; Business bank account introduction; Corporation tax and VAT registration support. - Non-resident — £199.99 plus £100 Companies House fee. For: Directors and shareholders outside the UK. Includes: Everything in Trading; Identity verification support for overseas officers; Apostille and certified copies arranged; Certificate of good standing on request; Mail forwarded to an overseas address. Our fees for everything else: - Registered office address: £39 per year - Director service address: £29 per year. Per officer, per company. - Business trading address: £99 per year - Correspondence address: £49 per year - Mail forwarding, UK: Included. Included with any address. Postage at cost, overseas included. - Confirmation statement: £45 plus £50 Companies House fee - Identity verification: £25. Per person. Required for directors and people with significant control. - Director appointment or resignation: £25 - Change of company name: £45 plus £20 Companies House fee - Issue of shares: £75 - Transfer of shares: £75 - Dormant company accounts: £99 - Voluntary dissolution: £45 plus £13 Companies House fee - Change of registered office: Included. Free while you hold an address with us. - Corporation tax registration: Included. Included with every formation package. - VAT registration: £60 - PAYE scheme setup: £40 - Apostilled documents: £95. Plus the Legalisation Office fee at cost. - Certificate of good standing: £45. Plus the Companies House fee at cost. - Call answering: £25 per month - Business bank account introduction: Included. No fee. No account can be guaranteed. ## The four address services ### Registered office address (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/registered-office) The company’s own official address. Every company must have one, and it must sit in the jurisdiction it was registered in. A registered office is where Companies House and HMRC write to the company. It appears on the public register, on the company’s website and on its letterhead, and it cannot be a PO box on its own. Using ours keeps a home address off the record while giving the company a real address that is attended and that we can prove post was received at. Key facts: Belongs to the company, not to a person; Published on the public register; Receives Companies House and HMRC statutory post; Must be in the jurisdiction of registration; Must be an appropriate address where post is acknowledged. Included: Use of our address as the company’s registered office; Statutory mail from Companies House and HMRC scanned the day it is logged; Same-day notification when statutory post arrives; A delivery record you can export; The change of address filed for you when you join or leave. ### Director service address (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/director-service-address) The published address for a person — a director, secretary or PSC. Without one, their home address goes on the register. Every director must give Companies House a service address. If they do not give a separate one, their usual residential address is used and published. A service address is per person and per company, so a director of three companies needs it recording against all three. Key facts: Belongs to the person, not the company; Published on the public register; One per officer, per company; Also applies to secretaries and people with significant control; Does not replace the residential address held privately by Companies House. Included: Use of our address as the service address for named officers; Personal post scanned and notified; Officers added or removed as the board changes; The change filed for you. ### Business trading address (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-trading-address) The address customers, suppliers and couriers use. It is not filed anywhere — it exists for commerce, not for compliance. A trading address is what goes on invoices, on the website contact page, in the app store listing and on the bank mandate. It is not a statutory address, so nothing is published, but it does need to be an address that can take ordinary business post and parcels. Key facts: Belongs to the business; Not published on any register; Takes general business post and couriers; Useful where a registered office would not be appropriate. Included: Use of our address on invoices, contracts and your website; All business post received, logged and scanned or forwarded; Parcels accepted within reasonable size limits; A delivery record you can export. ### Correspondence address (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/correspondence-address) One destination for everything else. Useful when directors are overseas, move often, or want a single place mail lands. Some people want one address that catches everything without it being the registered office or the trading address — an accountant’s correspondence, a supplier account, a professional body. That is what this is for. Key facts: Optional in every case; Not published; Scanned or forwarded, your choice; Forwarding available to an overseas address. Included: Use of our address for named correspondence; Mail scanned or forwarded on the schedule you set; Forwarding overseas at cost. ## Registering a company: common questions ### How to register a UK company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/how-to-register-a-company) Short answer: To register a UK company you need a permitted name, a jurisdiction, a registered office address, at least one director, at least one shareholder, a statement of capital, your people with significant control, and articles of association. Companies House charges £100 to register digitally. Before you start: Two decisions are permanent and worth five minutes each: the jurisdiction, which cannot be changed afterwards, and the share structure, which can be changed but rarely cheaply. Everything else — name, address, directors — can be altered later by filing. Step one: the name: It must use permitted characters, end with a permitted ending, and not reduce to the same string as an existing company under the "same as" rules. Sensitive words need written non-objection from a named body. None of this gives you trade mark rights, which is a separate search. Step two: the jurisdiction: England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. It fixes the number prefix, the registry holding your file, and where the registered office must be. Pick where the company will actually be administered. Step three: the addresses: A registered office, published, in the jurisdiction of registration. A service address for each director, also published. Use your home for either and it stays in the historic record permanently, even after you change it. Step four: the people: At least one director who is a natural person aged 16 or over. At least one shareholder. Anyone with more than 25% of shares or votes is a person with significant control and goes on a public register. Step five: the shares: How many, of what class, at what nominal value. One £1 share is legal and awkward; a hundred penny shares costs the same and divides cleanly when a second shareholder arrives. Step six: submit and verify: Directors and PSCs must have a verified identity. Once the incorporation is accepted you get a company number and certificate, and the filing calendar starts. ### What it costs to register a UK company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/cost-of-company-formation) Short answer: Companies House charges a statutory fee of £100 to incorporate digitally, £124 by paper, or £156 same-day. A formation agent charges its own fee on top — ours starts at £12.99 plus VAT. The costs that matter more are the recurring ones: address renewals, the confirmation statement, and accounts. The fee you cannot avoid: Companies House sets and collects its own fee and it goes to them, not to any agent. It is the same whether you file directly or through us, and any agent quoting a single blended number is making it harder for you to compare them. The agent fee: This is the part that varies, from a pound or two to several hundred. A very low headline fee is a loss-leader recovered on renewals and on bank referral commission. There is nothing wrong with that model provided you can see the renewals before you buy — which is usually the part that is hard to find. Year two is the real number: Registered office and service address renewals, the confirmation statement with its own £50 Companies House fee, accounts preparation, and any filing you need during the year. Add those up before you compare formation prices, because that is what you will actually pay every year. What should be free: Checking a name. Changing your registered office to or away from a provider. Being told that what you are about to buy is the wrong thing for you. ### Can I register a company myself, without an agent? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/register-a-company-yourself) Short answer: Yes. You can register a company directly with Companies House for the £100 statutory fee, with no agent involved at any stage. An agent is worth paying when you need your home address kept off the public register, when directors are overseas, when the share structure is not a simple even split, or when you want someone else to own the filing deadlines. How to do it yourself: Use the Companies House web incorporation service, have your directors' details and identity verification ready, decide the share structure before you start, and use an address you are content to have published. It is genuinely straightforward for a single UK-resident director and shareholder. What you give up: Nothing checks your name against the "same as" rules or the sensitive words list before you submit. Nothing tells you the structure you picked is wrong for what you described. Reminders go to the address you gave, which is often the problem two years later. When an agent earns its fee: A home address that must stay private. Directors or shareholders abroad. More than one shareholder, or shares that are not split evenly. A guarantee company, CIC, RTM company or PLC, where the articles are not the standard ones. What no agent can do: File faster than Companies House processes. Guarantee a name will be accepted. Guarantee a bank account. Remove an address that has already been published. ### Nine mistakes people make registering a company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/company-formation-mistakes) Short answer: The most common formation mistakes are using a home address that then stays on the public record, issuing a single share, choosing the wrong jurisdiction, picking SIC codes carelessly, confusing directors with shareholders, and assuming registration is the same as permission to trade. Using your home address: It goes on the public register, free to search, and it stays in the filing history after you change it. A service address at formation costs a fraction of what suppressing an address later costs, if it can be done at all. Issuing one share: Legal, common, and awkward. You cannot give someone 10% without issuing more shares or splitting the one you have. A hundred penny shares costs the same £1. Choosing the jurisdiction carelessly: It is permanent. A company cannot move between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland afterwards. Picking SIC codes in thirty seconds: Banks, insurers and lenders read them years later as a statement of what you actually do. A mismatch between your SIC code and your description is a common reason bank applications stall. Confusing directors and shareholders: One runs the company, the other owns it. Appointing someone as a director when you meant to give them equity — or the reverse — is the root of a large share of shareholder disputes. Relying on model articles with two shareholders: Model articles say almost nothing about deadlock, someone leaving, or a founder who stops working in the business. Assuming registration means permission: A company that needs a licence still needs the licence. Incorporation gives you the vehicle, not the permission. Forgetting the company is not you: Its money is not your money. Taking it out is a salary, a dividend or a director's loan, and each has different tax and paperwork. Missing the first confirmation statement: It is due whether or not anything changed, and missing it is the usual first step towards being struck off. ### The documents you get when a company is formed (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/formation-documents) Short answer: On incorporation you receive a certificate of incorporation, the memorandum and articles of association, share certificates for the founding shareholders, and your statutory registers. Banks and landlords will ask for the certificate; the articles govern how the company runs. Certificate of incorporation: The company's birth certificate: name, number, date and jurisdiction. Every bank, landlord and overseas registry asks for it. Replacements can be obtained at any time. Memorandum of association: A short statutory document recording that the first shareholders agreed to form the company and take at least one share each. Fixed at incorporation and never amended. Articles of association: The rulebook. Model articles by default. This is the document that decides what happens when shareholders disagree, so it is worth reading once rather than never. Share certificates: Evidence of what each shareholder holds. Not filed anywhere — the company issues them and keeps the register of members, which is the actual legal proof of ownership. Statutory registers: Members, directors, secretaries, people with significant control, and charges. The company must keep them, and it must keep them current — not once a year when a filing falls due. ### How long does it take to register a company? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/how-long-does-it-take) Short answer: Companies House publishes its own processing times and they vary. A same-day digital service exists and costs £156 in statutory fees, but it still depends on their queue and on the submission being correct first time. No agent controls how quickly Companies House works. What we control: That your submission is clean: the name checked against the rules and the register, the officers and shares correct, identity verification done, and nothing that will bounce. What we do not control: The Companies House queue, whether a name is referred for review, and how long a sensitive-word non-objection takes to obtain. Advertising a turnaround we cannot deliver would just be a promise made with someone else's time. What actually causes delay: A name that conflicts. A sensitive word needing a letter from a named body. An officer whose identity is not verified. A share structure that does not add up. All four are avoidable before submission, which is the point of checking first. If you genuinely need it today: The same-day service exists. Tell us before you order so the submission is prepared to that standard, and understand that the statutory fee is higher. ### Registering a UK company from abroad (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/register-a-company-from-abroad) Short answer: A non-resident can register a UK company with no requirement to live in the UK, no requirement to visit, and no requirement for a UK-resident director. The company needs a registered office in its jurisdiction of registration, and every director and PSC must verify their identity. Banking, not registration, is the hard part. What you need: A registered office in the UK jurisdiction you register in — this is structural, not optional. A service address for each officer so residential addresses abroad are not published. Identity evidence for every director and person with significant control. Identity verification from overseas: It can be done remotely. It takes more evidence, and documents may need certifying or translating. A mismatch between the passport and the register is the most common reason it fails, so check what the register says about you before you start. Tax is not automatic: A UK company does not by itself make you or it resident anywhere in particular. Where a company is managed and controlled affects where it is taxed, and you may have obligations in your own country. Take advice locally as well as here. The banking problem: This is where most non-resident formations stall. Some providers require a UK-resident director, some require a visit, some onboard remotely with more evidence. Resolve it before you buy a formation that assumes an account you cannot get. ### Setting up a UK company without a UK address (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/company-without-uk-address) Short answer: A UK company must have a registered office in its jurisdiction of registration, so a UK address is not optional. What is optional is providing it yourself: a registered office service supplies a compliant address, and a service address keeps directors' overseas home addresses off the public register. Why the address is compulsory: It is where Companies House and HMRC write, and since the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act it must be an "appropriate address" where delivery can be acknowledged. An unattended PO box will not do. What a registered office service gives you: A compliant address in the right jurisdiction, statutory post logged and scanned, and the change of address filed for you. It is not a trading address, and it is not a substitute for a service address for your directors. What it does not give you: A physical presence, an office you can visit, or an address every bank will accept. Some providers will not bank a company whose only address is a mail-handling address — that is a fact about them, worth knowing before you apply. Directors abroad: Give each director a service address too, or their overseas residential address is published on the UK register, permanently and searchably. ### Tax and accounting once your company exists (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/tax-and-accounting-after-formation) Short answer: After incorporation you must register for corporation tax within three months of starting to trade, file a confirmation statement each year, file annual accounts, and register for VAT and PAYE if they apply. A dormant company still files accounts and a confirmation statement. Corporation tax and your UTR: Register within three months of starting to trade. HMRC posts the company UTR to the registered office, which is one practical reason that address needs to be somewhere post is actually read. Accounts: Filed at Companies House and, in fuller form, with HMRC. Small companies can usually file less publicly. Late accounts carry an automatic penalty that doubles if it happens two years running. The confirmation statement: Annual, due whether or not anything changed, with its own £50 Companies House fee. Missing it is the usual first step towards being struck off. VAT and PAYE: VAT once turnover passes the threshold HMRC sets, or voluntarily. PAYE before the first salary is paid, including to yourself. Both are quick to set up and expensive to be late with. Salary, dividends and loans: Money leaving the company is one of the three, and each has different tax and different paperwork. This is a question for an accountant looking at your actual numbers, not a rule of thumb. ### How to choose a company formation agent (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-registration/choosing-a-formation-agent) Short answer: Judge a formation agent on what renews rather than the headline formation price, on whether it is registered as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, on how many companies share each address, and on whether it verifies identity before activating an address or after taking payment. Ask what renews, and at what price: The formation fee is once. Address services, filings and call answering are every year. An agent that will not show you the renewal price before you buy is telling you something. Ask whether they are an ACSP: Authorised Corporate Service Provider registration is granted by Companies House and can be checked. It is required to verify identities, and from late 2026 it is expected to be required to file on someone else's behalf at all. Ask how many companies use each address: An address shared with thousands of companies attracts scrutiny that lands on you — from banks, from HMRC, and from anyone doing due diligence on your business. Ask when they check identity: Before an address is activated, or after payment clears? The answer tells you whether the compliance is real or decorative. Ask what happens to post when the service ends: Returned to sender, forwarded for a grace period, or quietly binned? You will find out at the worst possible moment otherwise. Ask about bank referral commission: Most agents earn it. That is fine, provided they tell you before you apply, because a commission is a reason to point you somewhere. Ask what they will not promise: An agent that guarantees a bank account, a turnaround time, or that a name will be accepted is promising something outside its control. Check the claims: Review counts, "companies formed" figures and awards should be verifiable. If a number appears on a website with no source, treat it as decoration. Ask whether you need them at all: A good agent will sometimes tell you to go direct to Companies House. If that answer is never available, you are being sold to rather than advised. ## Company types ### Private company limited by shares (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/limited-company-formation) The default UK company: owned through shares, run by directors, liability limited to what is unpaid on the shares. Who it suits: Almost every business intended to make a profit for the people who own it — from a single freelancer incorporating for the first time to a company with several shareholders and outside investment. Name ends in: Limited, Ltd, Cyfyngedig or CYF Our fee: £12.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: At least one director aged 16 or over, of any nationality or country of residence; At least one shareholder, who is very often the same person; A statement of capital — how many shares, of what class, at what nominal value; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration; Anyone with more than 25% of shares or votes recorded as a person with significant control; Articles of association; the model articles are the default. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement every year; Annual accounts to Companies House and a corporation tax return to HMRC; Identity verification for directors and people with significant control; Filings when directors, shares, the name or the registered office change. - Liability is limited, not eliminated: A director who gives a personal guarantee to a bank or landlord is personally liable on that guarantee. Limited liability protects you from the company's ordinary trading debts, not from promises you made yourself. - Shares decide everything later: Who owns what, who can block what, and who gets paid first. One £1 share is legal, and it is also the thing people most often have to unpick when a second shareholder arrives. - The company's money is not your money: Taking it out is a salary, a dividend, or a director's loan, and each has different tax and different paperwork. Treating the business account as a personal one is the most common expensive mistake. Q: Can one person own and run a limited company? A: Yes. A single person can be the only director and the only shareholder. A company secretary is optional for a private company. Q: Do I need to be a UK resident? A: No. There is no residency requirement for directors or shareholders. The company itself needs a registered office in its jurisdiction of registration. Q: How much share capital do I need? A: There is no minimum for a private company limited by shares. What matters is the structure — how many shares exist and who holds them — not the amount. Q: Can I change from sole trader to a limited company? A: Yes, and it is a genuine change rather than a rename: a new legal person is created, and contracts, bank accounts, insurance and registrations move across to it. ### Company limited by guarantee (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/company-limited-by-guarantee) A company with members rather than shareholders, where each member guarantees a nominal amount — usually £1 — instead of buying shares. Who it suits: Clubs, societies, membership bodies, sports associations, residents' associations, trade bodies and most charities: organisations where any surplus is reinvested rather than paid out to owners. Name ends in: Limited, or exemption from using "Limited" where it qualifies Our fee: £39.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: At least one director; At least one member, who gives a guarantee — commonly £1; The amount of that guarantee stated at incorporation; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration; Articles suited to a membership body; the model guarantee articles rarely fit without amendment. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement every year; Annual accounts, and a corporation tax return unless the company is registered as a charity and exempt; Identity verification for directors and people with significant control; Charity regulator filings as well, where the company is a registered charity. - There are no shares, so there is nothing to sell: Members cannot take value out and cannot pass "ownership" to anyone. That permanence is exactly why funders and regulators like the form. - The articles do the real work: Membership classes, how members join and leave, voting, and what happens to assets on winding up. Model articles are a starting point, not an answer. - Charity status is separate: Incorporating a company limited by guarantee does not make it a charity. That is a second application, to the Charity Commission or the relevant regulator, against the public benefit test. Q: Is a company limited by guarantee automatically a charity? A: No. It is a company structure. Charitable status is applied for separately with the relevant charity regulator, and not every guarantee company qualifies or wants it. Q: Can it make a profit? A: It can generate a surplus. What it cannot do — under articles of this kind — is distribute that surplus to its members as profit. Q: Can it drop "Limited" from its name? A: A company limited by guarantee can be exempt from using "Limited" where its objects and articles meet the statutory conditions. ### Limited liability partnership (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/limited-liability-partnership) A partnership with limited liability: members share profits directly and are taxed as partners, while the LLP itself is a separate legal person. Who it suits: Professional practices — solicitors, accountants, surveyors, consultancies — and any partnership that wants limited liability without corporation tax sitting between the business and the people in it. Name ends in: LLP, or Partneriaeth Atebolrwydd Cyfyngedig / PAC Our fee: £29.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: At least two members at incorporation; At least two designated members, who carry the filing responsibilities; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration; An LLP agreement — private, not filed, and the single most important document you will write. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement every year; Annual accounts to Companies House; Each member files a self assessment return on their share of profit; Identity verification for members and people with significant control. - Profits are taxed in the members' hands: The LLP itself does not pay corporation tax. Members are taxed on their profit share whether or not it is drawn, which is a cash-flow reality worth planning for. - It needs two members, and it must keep two: An LLP that runs with a single member for more than six months exposes that member to unlimited liability for debts incurred in that period. - The agreement is not filed, and not optional in practice: Without one, the default statutory rules apply: equal profit shares, no expulsion power, and no mechanism for a member leaving. Almost nobody actually wants that. Q: How is an LLP different from a limited company? A: An LLP has members instead of directors and shareholders, is taxed transparently rather than paying corporation tax, and needs a minimum of two members. Both are separate legal persons with limited liability and both file accounts publicly. Q: Can a company be a member of an LLP? A: Yes. A corporate member is permitted, and is common in group structures. Q: Do LLP accounts get published? A: Yes. An LLP files accounts at Companies House in the same way a company does. ### Public limited company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/public-limited-company) A company that may offer its shares to the public, with a minimum issued share capital of £50,000 and stricter governance than a private company. Who it suits: Businesses raising capital from the public, preparing for a listing, or needing the standing that the form carries with counterparties. It is not a badge — it is a heavier set of obligations. Name ends in: PLC, P.L.C., or Cwmni Cyfyngedig Cyhoeddus / CCC Our fee: £249.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: At least two directors; A company secretary who is qualified for the role; Issued share capital of at least £50,000, with at least 25% of the nominal value paid up; A trading certificate from Companies House before the company can trade or borrow; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement every year; Annual accounts filed within a shorter deadline than a private company; An annual general meeting, and audited accounts unless an exemption applies; Identity verification for directors and people with significant control. - A PLC is not a listed company: Registering as a PLC does not put shares on an exchange. Listing is a separate process with its own rules; most PLCs are not listed anywhere. - The trading certificate comes first: A newly registered PLC cannot trade or borrow until Companies House issues a certificate confirming the capital requirement is met. - Governance is not optional at this size: Two directors, a qualified secretary, AGMs and — usually — an audit. If none of that is wanted, a private company is the honest answer. Q: Do I need £50,000 in the bank? A: You need £50,000 of issued share capital with at least a quarter of the nominal value paid up, so at least £12,500 actually paid. It is a capital requirement, not a balance you must maintain. Q: Can a private company become a PLC later? A: Yes, by re-registration, once the capital and governance requirements are met. Many companies do it that way rather than starting as a PLC. ### Community interest company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/community-interest-company) A company with a stated community purpose and an asset lock, approved by the CIC Regulator as well as registered at Companies House. Who it suits: Social enterprises that trade for a community benefit and want that purpose to be permanent and visible, without the regulatory weight of charitable status. Name ends in: Community Interest Company or CIC — or C.I.C. variants for a public CIC Our fee: £89.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: A community interest statement explaining who benefits and how; Approval from the CIC Regulator, in addition to Companies House registration; An asset lock, so assets cannot be extracted for private benefit; CIC-specific articles, as either a shares or a guarantee company; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement and annual accounts, as for any company; An annual CIC report to the Regulator, describing what the company did for the community; Compliance with the asset lock, and with the dividend and interest caps where the CIC has shares; Identity verification for directors and people with significant control. - Two bodies must be satisfied, so it takes longer: Companies House registers the company; the CIC Regulator approves the community interest test. A rejected statement means starting that part again. - The asset lock is permanent: Assets stay in the community purpose. That is the point of the form, and it is not something that can be quietly unwound later. - It is not a charity, and does not get charity tax reliefs: A CIC is more flexible and faster to run than a charity, but Gift Aid and charitable rate relief are not available to it. Q: Can a CIC pay its directors? A: Yes. Directors can be paid reasonable remuneration, and that is reported to the Regulator in the annual CIC report. Q: Can a CIC pay dividends? A: A CIC limited by shares can pay dividends subject to a cap set by the Regulator. A CIC limited by guarantee has no shares and pays none. Q: Is a CIC better than a charity? A: It is different. A CIC is quicker to set up and freer to trade; a charity gets tax reliefs and public trust but carries more regulation. The right answer depends on where the money comes from. ### Charitable company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/charity-company-formation) A company limited by guarantee with charitable objects, incorporated first at Companies House and then registered with the charity regulator. Who it suits: Groups that want charitable status with the protection of a corporate structure, so trustees are not personally exposed to the organisation's contracts. Name ends in: Limited, or exemption where it qualifies Our fee: £89.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: Charitable objects drafted to meet the public benefit requirement; A company limited by guarantee, with articles the regulator will accept; Trustees, who are also the company's directors; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration; A separate application to the Charity Commission, or OSCR in Scotland, after incorporation. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement and accounts at Companies House; The charity regulator's own annual return and accounts, on a different timetable; Identity verification for directors, who are the trustees. - Incorporating is step one of two: Companies House does not decide whether something is a charity. The regulator does, against the public benefit test, and it can say no. - A charitable incorporated organisation may suit better: A CIO is registered only with the charity regulator — one registration, one set of accounts, no Companies House filings. If the only reason for a company is limited liability, compare the two before incorporating. - Objects are hard to change afterwards: They define what the charity may lawfully do with its money. Drafting them too narrowly is a problem you will meet in year three. Q: Do I have to incorporate before applying for charity registration? A: For a charitable company, yes — the regulator needs the company to exist. A CIO is registered directly with the regulator instead. Q: Are trustees personally liable? A: In a company limited by guarantee, trustees are protected from ordinary contractual liability in the same way company directors are, provided they act properly. ### Property management company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/property-management-company) A company set up to hold the freehold or manage the common parts of a building, usually owned by the leaseholders themselves. Who it suits: Blocks of flats and estates where the leaseholders own or control the management of the building, and need a legal entity to hold the freehold, collect service charges and contract with suppliers. Name ends in: Limited or Ltd Our fee: £59.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: Directors, who are usually leaseholders themselves; A membership or share structure that matches the leases — commonly one share per flat; Articles that reflect the leases, so membership follows ownership of a flat when it is sold; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement and annual accounts, even where the company barely trades; Service charge accounting to the leaseholders, separately from the company accounts; Filings each time a flat changes hands and membership moves with it; Identity verification for directors and people with significant control. - The articles must follow the leases: If membership does not transfer automatically when a flat is sold, you get a company owned by people who no longer live in the building. Unpicking that is expensive. - Service charge money is held on trust: It is not the company's money to use freely. It is held for the leaseholders and accounted for separately. - Dormant is rarely the right answer: Companies collecting and spending service charges are usually not dormant, whatever the previous director assumed. Q: Is this the same as a right to manage company? A: No. A property management company is often set up by the developer or holds the freehold. An RTM company is a statutory route for leaseholders to take over management without buying the freehold. Q: Can we use our home addresses? A: You can, but every director's address is then published. Directors of these companies are neighbours, so a service address is usually worth having. ### Right to manage company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/right-to-manage-company) A company formed under the statutory right to manage, letting leaseholders take over management of their building without buying the freehold. Who it suits: Leaseholders of flats who want control of the managing agent, the service charge and the maintenance of their block. Name ends in: RTM Company Limited — the wording is prescribed Our fee: £79.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: A company limited by guarantee with the prescribed RTM articles; A name ending in the prescribed form for an RTM company; Qualifying leaseholders as members, meeting the statutory participation threshold; A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration; The statutory notices served correctly, in order, after incorporation. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement and annual accounts; Membership offered to every qualifying leaseholder, at any time; Service charge accounting to leaseholders; Identity verification for directors and people with significant control. - The articles are prescribed, not optional: RTM companies must use the form of articles set out in the regulations. Model articles or amended ones will not do, and a defective company can invalidate the claim. - The process is a sequence, and order matters: Incorporate, then serve notice inviting participation, then serve the claim notice. Getting the order or the timing wrong is the usual reason a claim fails. - No fault needs to be proved: You do not have to show the current manager is bad. The right is statutory, provided the building and the leaseholders qualify. Q: Does right to manage mean we own the freehold? A: No. The freeholder keeps ownership. The RTM company takes over management functions — service charges, maintenance, and the choice of managing agent. Q: How many leaseholders do we need? A: Participation must meet the statutory threshold based on the qualifying flats in the building. The building itself also has to qualify. Q: Can the freeholder refuse? A: They can dispute whether the qualifying conditions are met, which is why the notices and the company itself have to be right. They cannot refuse a valid claim on the merits. ### Non-resident company formation (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/non-resident-company-formation) A UK limited company formed for directors and shareholders who live outside the UK, with no requirement to visit and no requirement for a UK-resident director. Who it suits: Founders abroad selling into the UK or Europe, marketplace sellers needing a UK entity, and groups establishing a UK subsidiary. Name ends in: Limited or Ltd Our fee: £199.99 plus VAT, plus £100 Companies House fee. Companies House needs: A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration — this is where our address service is not optional but structural; Identity verification for every director and person with significant control, which takes more evidence from abroad; A service address for each officer, so residential addresses abroad are not published; A clear description of what the company will do, and where its customers are. Ongoing obligations: Confirmation statement and annual accounts, on the same timetable as any UK company; Corporation tax registration with HMRC once trading begins; VAT registration where UK supplies require it, which can arise sooner for overseas businesses. - Registration is easy; banking is the hard part: Nothing stops a non-resident forming a UK company. Opening a UK business account is where most non-resident formations stall, and it is worth resolving before you buy, not after. - A UK company does not make you UK tax resident: Where a company is managed and controlled affects where it is taxed, and there may be obligations in your own country too. Take advice locally as well as here. - Apostilles are usually needed eventually: Banks, registries and counterparties abroad ask for legalised documents. Arranging it at the point of formation is cheaper than doing it under time pressure. Q: Do I need to visit the UK? A: No. Incorporation, identity verification and filings can all be handled remotely. Some banks require a visit; not all do. Q: Do I need a UK director? A: Not to register the company. Some banks prefer or require one, which is a banking condition rather than a company law one. Q: Can I use my home address abroad? A: As a service address, yes — but it would then be published on the UK public register. The registered office must be in the UK jurisdiction of registration. ## Filing services ### Confirmation statement (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/confirmation-statement) The annual filing that confirms the information Companies House holds about your company is correct. Due every year whether or not anything has changed. A confirmation statement is not accounts and it is not a tax return. It is a declaration that the register is accurate: registered office, officers, people with significant control, SIC codes, share capital and shareholders. If something changed during the year and was never filed, this is where it surfaces. When it is due: Once a year, within 14 days of the end of your review period. The review period starts the day the company was incorporated, or the day after your last statement. Our fee: £45 plus £50 Companies House fee. What we do: We check the register against what you tell us before anything is filed; Changes to SIC codes, shareholders and share capital filed on the statement itself; Separate filings raised where a change cannot go on the statement — an officer or a registered office change; The Companies House fee paid on your behalf and shown at cost; Your next review date recorded and reminded before it falls due. If it is not done: Failing to file is a criminal offence by the company and its officers, and it is the usual first step towards Companies House proposing to strike the company off. A company in that state cannot borrow, is often refused banking, and its assets can pass to the Crown if dissolution completes. Q: Is a confirmation statement the same as annual accounts? A: No. They are separate filings on separate deadlines. Accounts report the company's finances; a confirmation statement confirms the register is correct. Q: Do I file one if the company is dormant? A: Yes. A dormant company files a confirmation statement and dormant accounts. Dormancy removes almost nothing from the filing calendar. Q: What if nothing changed this year? A: You still file. That is the point of it — you are confirming that nothing changed. Q: Can I file it early? A: Yes. Filing early starts a new twelve-month review period from that date. ### Identity verification (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/identity-verification) Directors and people with significant control must have a verified identity. We verify you as an authorised corporate service provider. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act made identity verification a condition of holding office. It applies to directors, members of an LLP, and people with significant control. It is a check on the person, not the company, so someone who is a director of four companies verifies once and their verified status is used for all of them. When it is due: Before appointment for new directors, and within the transition deadlines for existing ones. Verification attaches to the person, so it is done once and reused. Our fee: £25. What we do: Identity verified as an authorised corporate service provider, with the reference recorded; A clear list of exactly which documents are accepted before you start; Overseas identity documents handled, including where an apostille or certified translation is needed; The verified status linked to every company you are appointed to; Records kept as the regulations require. If it is not done: Acting as a director without a verified identity is an offence, and Companies House can reject filings made by unverified people. In practice the first sign of a problem is usually a rejected appointment or a blocked confirmation statement. Q: Do I have to verify for each company separately? A: No. Verification is per person. Once verified, the status applies to every appointment you hold. Q: Can I verify from outside the UK? A: Yes. It takes more evidence, and some documents may need certifying or translating, but there is no requirement to be in the UK. Q: What if I use a different name on my passport? A: Tell us before you start. A mismatch between the register and the document is the single most common reason verification fails. ### Director appointments and resignations (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/director-appointments) Filing an appointment, a resignation or a change of a director's details at Companies House, with the statutory registers updated to match. A director is appointed by the company under its articles, and then that appointment is notified to Companies House. The filing does not make the appointment — the company does — which is why the paperwork behind it matters as much as the form. When it is due: Within 14 days of the change. The company's own registers should be updated on the day it happens. Our fee: £25. What we do: The appointment, resignation or change of details filed within the statutory period; A service address recorded so a home address is not published; Identity verification arranged for a new director who does not have it; The company's register of directors updated to match the register at Companies House; A check of whether the change also affects the PSC register, which it often does. If it is not done: Late filing is an offence. Worse in practice: a director who resigned but was never removed remains publicly liable-looking and keeps receiving correspondence, and a new director who was never filed cannot demonstrate authority to a bank. Q: Can a company remove a director who does not want to go? A: It can, but the route is in the Companies Act and the articles, and it involves notice and a shareholder meeting. The Companies House filing is the last step, not the mechanism. Q: Does resigning as a director cancel my shares? A: No. Directorship and shareholding are separate. Resigning changes nothing about what you own. Q: Can a company have no directors? A: No. A private company must have at least one director who is a natural person. ### Change of company name (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/company-name-change) Changing a registered company name by resolution, with the new certificate issued by Companies House. The company number never changes. The name does, and the old one stays visible in the company's filing history. The new name has to clear the same rules as a new registration: permitted characters, a valid ending, sensitive words, and the "same as" test against every company already on the register. When it is due: Whenever you decide. The change takes effect when Companies House issues the certificate of incorporation on change of name. Our fee: £45 plus £20 Companies House fee. What we do: The proposed name checked against the register and the sensitive words list first; The written resolution drafted for the shareholders to pass; The change filed and the new certificate obtained; A reminder of everything that has to follow: bank, HMRC, insurers, contracts, invoices, website. If it is not done: A name that is too like an existing one can be challenged after registration, and Companies House can direct a change. Trading under the old name after the change confuses contracts and invoices, which matters more than it sounds when someone disputes a debt. Q: Will my company number change? A: No. The number is permanent for the life of the company, whatever it is called. Q: Can I trade under a different name without changing it? A: Yes — a trading name. You must still display the registered name and number on your website, invoices and correspondence. Q: Does changing the name protect it as a brand? A: No. Company names and trade marks are separate systems. Registering a name at Companies House gives you no trade mark rights. ### Issue of shares (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/issue-of-shares) Allotting new shares — to bring in an investor, reward a joiner, or restructure who owns what — with the return of allotment filed at Companies House. Issuing shares creates new ones and dilutes everybody who already holds them. That is a decision about control as much as money: it changes voting, it can change who counts as a person with significant control, and it can cross the 25% threshold that makes someone a PSC. When it is due: The return of allotment is filed within one month of the shares being allotted. Our fee: £75. What we do: A check of the articles and any shareholders' agreement for pre-emption rights before anything is issued; Board and shareholder resolutions drafted; The return of allotment and the updated statement of capital filed; Share certificates issued and the register of members updated; The PSC register reviewed, because a new holding often changes it. If it is not done: Issuing shares without following pre-emption rights or the articles can make the allotment challengeable years later, usually at the exact moment the company is being sold or raising money. Q: What is the difference between issuing and transferring shares? A: Issuing creates new shares and dilutes existing holders. Transferring moves existing shares from one person to another and dilutes nobody. Q: Do I need to pay for shares immediately? A: Not necessarily — shares can be issued unpaid or partly paid, and the unpaid amount remains owed to the company. It is a debt, and it is public. Q: Can I issue shares to someone overseas? A: Yes. There is no residency requirement for shareholders. ### Transfer of shares (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/transfer-of-shares) Moving existing shares from one holder to another — stock transfer form, board approval, register of members and the next confirmation statement. A share transfer is not filed at Companies House when it happens — which is why so many are done badly and only discovered later. The evidence that it happened is the stock transfer form, the board minute approving it, and the register of members. Those documents are the proof of ownership, not the public register. When it is due: Immediately on completion, in the company's own registers. Companies House sees it on the next confirmation statement. Our fee: £75. What we do: Stock transfer form prepared; The articles checked for pre-emption rights and any transfer restrictions; Board resolution approving the transfer; The register of members updated, and new certificates issued; Guidance on whether stamp duty applies, and on the consideration threshold; The change reported on the next confirmation statement. If it is not done: An undocumented transfer means the register of members still shows the old holder, who legally still owns the shares. Buyers and lenders find this during due diligence, and fixing it years later can require the co-operation of someone who has since fallen out with you. Q: Is stamp duty payable? A: It can be, depending on the consideration paid. Where duty is due, the form is stamped by HMRC before the company registers the transfer. Q: Does Companies House need telling straight away? A: No — transfers are reported on the next confirmation statement. The company's own register must be updated at the time. Q: Can the other shareholders block it? A: Often yes. Many articles include pre-emption rights or a directors' power to refuse a transfer. Check before agreeing a sale. ### Dormant company accounts (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/dormant-company-accounts) Accounts for a company that has had no significant accounting transactions in the financial year. Dormant has a precise meaning: no significant accounting transactions during the period. Paying a filing fee from the company account, or receiving a single invoice payment, can break dormancy — and then the company needs full accounts instead. When it is due: Within nine months of the company's accounting reference date, every year the company is dormant. Our fee: £99. What we do: A dormancy check before anything is filed, because getting this wrong is expensive; Dormant accounts prepared and filed at Companies House; HMRC notified that the company is dormant for corporation tax where appropriate; The confirmation statement handled alongside, since both fall due each year. If it is not done: Late accounts carry an automatic penalty that doubles if it happens in consecutive years, and the penalty is the company's debt. Persistent failure leads to strike-off and to the directors' conduct being on record. Q: My company has never traded. Do I still file? A: Yes. From incorporation, the company has filing obligations whether or not it ever trades. Q: Does paying the Companies House fee break dormancy? A: Fees paid to Companies House for a confirmation statement are among the limited transactions that do not break dormancy. Most other payments do. Q: Should I just close the company instead? A: If it will never be used, often yes — dissolution ends the filings. If you want to keep the name, dormant filings are the price of keeping it. ### Company dissolution (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/company-dissolution) Applying to strike a company off the register when it has genuinely stopped trading, using form DS01. Striking off is the cheap and ordinary way to end a solvent company that has stopped. It is not a way to escape debts: creditors are notified, they can object, and a struck-off company can be restored to the register for up to six years — with its directors back in the frame. When it is due: Once the company has not traded or sold stock in the previous three months, has not changed its name in that period, and is not subject to insolvency proceedings. Our fee: £45 plus £13 Companies House fee. What we do: An eligibility check against the statutory conditions before you apply; The DS01 prepared and filed, signed by a majority of directors; Notice given to every party the law requires, including creditors, HMRC and any employees; Guidance on distributing what is left before the company ends, so it does not pass to the Crown. If it is not done: Anything still owned by the company at dissolution — a bank balance, a property, intellectual property — becomes bona vacantia and passes to the Crown. Recovering it means paying to restore the company. Empty the company first. Q: Can I strike off a company with debts? A: You should not. Creditors will object, and directors can face action. A company that cannot pay its debts needs an insolvency practitioner, not a DS01. Q: What happens to money left in the bank account? A: It passes to the Crown on dissolution. Distribute it properly before applying, and take tax advice — how it is distributed changes what is paid on it. Q: Can a dissolved company be brought back? A: Yes, by administrative restoration or court order, generally within six years. Creditors do use it. ### VAT registration (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/vat-registration) Registering for VAT with HMRC — compulsorily once turnover passes the threshold, or voluntarily before that. VAT registration changes how you invoice, what you can reclaim, and how often you file. Registering voluntarily can be worth it if your customers are VAT-registered businesses and you have input tax to reclaim. It is usually a mistake if you sell to consumers, because your prices effectively rise by a fifth overnight. When it is due: Within 30 days of the end of the month in which turnover passed the threshold, or at any time voluntarily. Our fee: £60. What we do: A conversation about whether you should register at all, before we take a fee for doing it; Registration submitted to HMRC and the VAT number obtained; The scheme explained and chosen — standard, cash accounting, flat rate or annual accounting; Making Tax Digital compatibility checked, since VAT records must be kept digitally; The registration certificate passed on and recorded. If it is not done: Late registration means VAT is owed on sales made after the date you should have registered — whether or not you charged it to your customers. That is money out of margin, plus a penalty. Q: What is the VAT registration threshold? A: HMRC sets it and reviews it, so check the current figure on gov.uk before relying on a number you read anywhere else, including here. Q: Can I register before I start trading? A: Yes, if you intend to make taxable supplies. HMRC may ask for evidence of that intention. Q: Is the flat rate scheme better? A: Sometimes, for businesses with few costs. It is worse for businesses buying a lot of goods. It depends on your numbers, not on a rule of thumb. ### PAYE registration (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/paye-registration) Registering as an employer with HMRC so the company can pay a salary — including to its own director. A company that pays anyone, including a sole director taking a small salary, is an employer. That means a PAYE scheme, real time information submissions on or before each payday, and a workplace pension duty to assess. When it is due: Before the first payday. HMRC will not backdate a scheme indefinitely, and payroll cannot be reported without one. Our fee: £40. What we do: PAYE and National Insurance scheme registered with HMRC; The employer reference and accounts office reference obtained and recorded; Guidance on the director's salary level and how it interacts with dividends; A note of your automatic enrolment duties and the date they start. If it is not done: Paying a salary without a scheme means late RTI submissions and penalties from the first month. Automatic enrolment duties apply from the first employee's start date, not from when you get round to them. Q: Do I need PAYE if I am the only director? A: If the company pays you a salary, yes. If you take only dividends, no — but that decision has tax consequences worth checking first. Q: Can I run payroll myself? A: Yes, with recognised software. The scheme still has to exist first. Q: What about a workplace pension? A: Automatic enrolment duties start when you have your first eligible worker. A sole director with no employment contract may be exempt — confirm rather than assume. ### Apostilled documents (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/apostille) Getting UK company documents legalised for use abroad — for a foreign bank, registry, tender or subsidiary. An apostille is a certificate confirming that a UK official signature or seal is genuine, issued under the Hague Convention. Countries outside the Convention need consular legalisation instead, which takes longer and costs more. When it is due: Whenever an overseas institution asks for legalised documents. Allow time: it involves a notary or solicitor and the Legalisation Office. Our fee: £95. What we do: The right documents identified for what the overseas institution actually asked for; Certified copies obtained, or documents notarised where required; The apostille obtained from the Legalisation Office; Consular legalisation arranged where the destination country is outside the Hague Convention; Courier to an overseas address. If it is not done: The usual failure is legalising the wrong document, or one that is too old — many institutions will not accept a certificate issued more than three or six months ago. Ask them for their exact requirement in writing first; we will help you read it. Q: How long does an apostille take? A: It depends on the Legalisation Office and on whether a notary is involved. We will give you a realistic range for your documents rather than a headline figure. Q: Which documents can be apostilled? A: Typically the certificate of incorporation, the articles, a certificate of good standing, and board resolutions — usually via a certified or notarised copy. Q: Does an apostille translate the document? A: No. Where a translation is needed it is separate, and often has to be certified too. ### Certificate of good standing (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/services/certificate-of-good-standing) An official Companies House certificate confirming the company exists, is not in the process of being struck off, and has filed what it should. The certificate says the company has been in continuous existence since incorporation and that no action is under way to strike it off. Companies House will not issue one for a company with overdue filings, which makes it a useful health check as well as a document. When it is due: Usually requested by an overseas bank, registry or counterparty, often alongside an apostille. Our fee: £45. What we do: The company's filing position checked first, and anything overdue put right; The certificate ordered from Companies House and passed on; Additional statements included where the recipient requires them — directors, shareholders, registered office; Apostille arranged where the certificate is going abroad. If it is not done: A refusal is itself information: it usually means something is overdue, which the party asking for the certificate will discover shortly afterwards. Better to find it first. Q: How long is it valid? A: It has no expiry, but the institution asking for it usually will not accept one issued more than three or six months ago. Q: Can I get one if a filing is late? A: Not until the filing is brought up to date. We can do both, in that order. ## Business bank accounts (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account) No account can be guaranteed by this company or any other. Every provider decides for itself, applies its own checks, and may decline without giving a reason. There is no fee for an introduction and no cashback is offered. ### UK-licensed banks Deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 per eligible depositor, per banking licence. Note the licence, not the brand — two brands can share one licence, and the limit is shared with them. - Barclays: Established businesses wanting a branch relationship and lending in the same place. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - HSBC: Companies trading internationally, or with overseas ownership already banked by HSBC elsewhere. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Lloyds: UK-only trading companies, straightforward ownership. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - NatWest: Startups and small companies; long-standing free banking periods for new businesses. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Santander: Companies wanting a bank account alongside merchant services. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Starling: UK-resident directors who want a licensed bank without a branch visit. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Monzo: Sole director companies and early-stage businesses banking on a phone. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Zempler: Companies that struggle to pass mainstream onboarding; formerly Cashplus. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) ### E-money and payment institutions Not banks. Your money is safeguarded — held separately from the firm's own funds — rather than FSCS protected. Safeguarding is a real protection, but it is a different one, and it is slower to pay out if the firm fails. Many of these onboard faster and accept setups a bank would decline. - Tide: Fast onboarding for new UK companies; accounts issued through a partner bank. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - ANNA Money: Very small companies wanting bookkeeping and tax alongside the account. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Wise: Companies invoicing in several currencies, or paying overseas suppliers. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Airwallex: Cross-border trading and multi-currency collection at volume. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Payoneer: Marketplace sellers being paid by overseas platforms. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) - Revolut Business: Multi-currency operations; check its current UK licence status on the FCA register, as it has been changing. (not a partner; no commercial relationship is claimed) Providers typically ask for: Passport or national identity document for every director and person with significant control; Proof of residential address dated within the last three months; The certificate of incorporation and the company number; A plain description of what the company sells, to whom, and how it is paid; Expected monthly turnover, and the countries money will come from and go to; The ownership chain in full where a holding company, trust or overseas shareholder sits above the company. Independent guides to individual providers (no commercial relationship is claimed with any of them): - Barclays (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/barclays): A UK-licensed high street bank, suited to companies that want a relationship manager, lending and a branch in the same place. Suits: Established companies, businesses that will want credit facilities, and anyone who values being able to walk into a branch. Expect: Full identity and address evidence for every director and person with significant control, a clear description of the business, and questions about expected turnover and where money will come from. Applications from companies with only a mail-handling address are scrutinised more closely. - HSBC (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/hsbc): A UK-licensed bank with a large international network, often the pragmatic choice where a group already banks with HSBC elsewhere. Suits: Companies trading across borders, and UK subsidiaries of overseas groups already known to the bank in another country. Expect: Standard identity and ownership evidence, plus a full explanation of the ownership chain where a parent company or overseas shareholder sits above the UK company. - Lloyds (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/lloyds): A UK-licensed high street bank, generally straightforward for UK-only companies with simple ownership. Suits: UK-resident directors, UK customers, uncomplicated share structures. Expect: Identity and address evidence, the certificate of incorporation, and a description of trading activity that matches the SIC codes on the register. - NatWest (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/natwest): A UK-licensed bank that has long targeted startups and small companies, often with an introductory period of free business banking. Suits: Newly formed companies and small businesses banking in sterling only. Expect: The company number, identity evidence for officers, and a description of the business. Onboarding is largely digital. - Starling Bank (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/starling): A UK-licensed digital bank with no branches, so deposits carry FSCS protection while onboarding stays app-based. Suits: UK-resident directors who want a licensed bank without a branch visit, and businesses that want fast account opening. Expect: A UK-resident director, identity verification in the app, and questions about the nature of the business. - Monzo (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/monzo): A UK-licensed digital bank offering business accounts, with FSCS protection and app-based onboarding. Suits: Sole director companies and early-stage businesses that want simple sterling banking. Expect: A UK-resident director, app-based identity checks, and a description of what the company does. - Tide (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/tide): Not a bank: Tide is an e-money provider whose accounts are issued through a partner bank, so money is safeguarded rather than FSCS protected. Suits: New companies wanting fast onboarding, and businesses that value bookkeeping features alongside the account. Expect: Company number, identity documents, and a short description of the business. Onboarding is usually quick. - Wise Business (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/wise): An e-money institution built around multi-currency payments rather than UK banking, with money safeguarded rather than FSCS protected. Suits: Companies invoicing in several currencies, paying overseas suppliers, or receiving from overseas platforms. Expect: Identity evidence, company documents, and questions about the countries money will move between. - ANNA Money (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/anna-money): An e-money provider aimed at very small companies, bundling bookkeeping and tax filing with the account. Suits: Sole directors and micro companies that want the account and the admin in one place. Expect: Company number, identity documents, and a description of trading activity. - Revolut Business (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/business-bank-account/revolut-business): A multi-currency business account provider whose UK regulatory status has been changing — check the FCA register for its current permissions before you rely on any particular protection. Suits: Companies operating in several currencies with international customers or suppliers. Expect: Identity evidence for officers, ownership detail, and questions about payment flows and countries involved. ## Frequently asked questions (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/faq) ### Registering a company Q: Do I have to register a company to run a business? A: No. You can trade as a sole trader without registering at Companies House, though you must still tell HMRC. Registering a company creates a separate legal person, which is a different thing from being allowed to trade. Q: What is the difference between a sole trader and a limited company? A: A sole trader is the business — same legal person, personally liable for its debts. A limited company is separate: it owns its own assets, owes its own debts, files public accounts, and pays corporation tax rather than income tax on profit. Q: How many people do I need to start a limited company? A: One. A single person can be the only director and the only shareholder. An LLP is the exception — it needs at least two members. Q: Do I need a business plan to register? A: Not for Companies House. You will need one for most lenders, some banks and every grant application, so it is worth having before you need it in a hurry. Q: Can I register a company while employed? A: Yes. Check your employment contract for restrictions on outside interests, and remember that your directorship is published on the public register where an employer can see it. Q: Can I register a company if I am not a UK resident? A: Yes. There is no residency requirement for directors or shareholders, and no requirement to visit. The company needs a registered office in its jurisdiction of registration, and every director must verify their identity. Q: Can a company register another company? A: A company can be a shareholder, and can be a corporate director in limited circumstances, but every company needs at least one director who is a natural person. Q: What is a SIC code? A: A standard industrial classification code describing what the company does. You give at least one at registration, and banks, insurers and lenders read it later as a statement of what you actually do. Q: Can I change my SIC code later? A: Yes, on the confirmation statement or by filing a change. It is worth doing when what you actually sell has drifted away from what you picked in thirty seconds at formation. Q: What is the memorandum of association? A: A short statutory document recording that the subscribers agreed to form the company and take at least one share each. It is fixed at incorporation and cannot be amended afterwards. Q: What are articles of association? A: The rules the company runs by — how directors act, how shares are issued and transferred, how decisions are made. Model articles are the default; bespoke articles matter as soon as more than one person owns shares. Q: Should I use model articles or bespoke ones? A: Model articles are adequate for a single-shareholder company. With two or more shareholders they say nothing useful about deadlock, someone leaving, or a shareholder who stops working in the business. Q: Can I register a company for a future start date? A: No. A company exists from the date Companies House incorporates it, and its filing obligations start then. You can incorporate now and simply not trade yet. Q: What happens immediately after incorporation? A: You get a company number and a certificate of incorporation. Then: corporation tax registration with HMRC, a bank account, identity verification if not already done, and a first confirmation statement date to diarise. Q: Can I register a company myself without an agent? A: Yes, directly with Companies House for the statutory fee. An agent is worth paying for a name checked before submission, addresses that keep your home off the register, identity verification, and the filings after year one. ### Company names Q: How do I check whether a company name is available? A: Nothing can confirm availability before submission — Companies House decides then. What you can check is whether the name breaks the rules and whether an existing company reduces to the same name, which is what our checker does. Q: What is the "same as" rule? A: Companies House strips punctuation, spacing, the company-type ending and certain common words from both names, and treats some characters as equivalent. If two names reduce to the same string, the second cannot be registered. Q: Which words are disregarded in the "same as" test? A: Words like the, company, UK, GB, group, holdings and services, among others, along with the company-type ending. "The Example Group Limited" and "Example Ltd" reduce to the same thing. Q: What is the "too like" rule? A: A discretionary judgement, separate from "same as". Companies House can direct a company to change its name if it is too like one already registered, usually after the existing company objects within a defined period. Q: What are sensitive words? A: Words the law restricts because they imply a connection to government, a regulated profession or a status the company may not hold — bank, royal, institute, chartered, trust and many more. Q: Can I still use a sensitive word? A: Usually yes, with written non-objection from a specified body. Which body depends on the word, and so does what they want to see. We will tell you which and what. Q: Which characters are allowed in a company name? A: Letters, numbers, spaces and a defined set of punctuation. Anything outside that set is rejected, and there is a 160-character limit including the ending. Q: Is "Ltd" different from "Limited"? A: Not in law. Both are permitted endings for a private company limited by shares, and Companies House treats them as identical under the "same as" rules. A Welsh company may use "Cyfyngedig" or "CYF". Q: Does registering a company name protect it as a brand? A: No. Company names and trade marks are separate systems. A name can be lawfully registered at Companies House and still infringe a trade mark, and the mark holder can force a change. Q: Can two companies have similar names? A: Yes, provided they do not reduce identically under the "same as" rules. Similar is allowed; identical after reduction is not, and "too like" can still be challenged. Q: Can I reserve a company name? A: No. There is no reservation system in the UK. The only way to hold a name is to register a company with it. Q: Can I trade under a different name? A: Yes — a trading name. You must still display the registered company name and number on your website, invoices and correspondence. ### Directors and officers Q: Who can be a company director? A: Anyone aged 16 or over who is not disqualified and not an undischarged bankrupt. There is no nationality or residency requirement. Q: Do I need a company secretary? A: Not for a private company — it is optional. A public limited company must have one, and they must be qualified for the role. Q: What are a director's legal duties? A: The Companies Act sets out seven, including acting within powers, promoting the success of the company, exercising independent judgement and reasonable care, and avoiding conflicts of interest. Q: Can a director also be a shareholder? A: Yes, and in most small companies they are the same person. They remain separate roles: one runs the company, the other owns it. Q: How do I appoint a new director? A: The company appoints them under its articles, then the appointment is filed at Companies House within 14 days and the company's own register of directors is updated. Q: How do I remove a director? A: The route is in the Companies Act and the articles, and it involves notice and a shareholder meeting. The Companies House filing records the outcome; it is not the mechanism. Q: Does resigning as a director cancel my shares? A: No. Directorship and shareholding are separate. Resigning changes nothing about what you own. Q: Can a company have no directors? A: No. A private company must have at least one director who is a natural person, at all times. Q: What is a person with significant control? A: Someone holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or who otherwise controls the company. The PSC register is public, and filing it wrongly is a criminal offence. Q: What if nobody holds more than 25%? A: Then there may be no PSC, and the company records that fact instead. It still has to be recorded — silence is not an answer Companies House accepts. Q: Is my date of birth published? A: Only the month and year appear on the public register. The full date is held by Companies House but not published. Q: Can a disqualified director be involved in a company? A: No, not in its management, and acting through someone else does not cure it. Disqualification is enforced, and breaching it is a criminal offence. ### Shares and shareholders Q: How many shares should I issue at formation? A: There is no minimum and no right answer, but one £1 share is awkward — you cannot give someone 10% without issuing more or splitting it. A hundred £0.01 shares costs the same £1 and divides cleanly. Q: What is nominal value? A: The face value of a share, often £1 or a penny. It is not what the share is worth; it is the amount the shareholder is liable to pay the company for it if it is unpaid. Q: What does "limited liability" actually limit? A: Your liability to the amount unpaid on your shares. It does not protect you from a personal guarantee you gave to a bank or landlord, or from your own wrongful acts. Q: What is the difference between issuing and transferring shares? A: Issuing creates new shares and dilutes existing holders. Transferring moves existing shares from one person to another and dilutes nobody. Q: Do I have to tell Companies House about a share transfer? A: Not at the time. The company updates its own register of members immediately, and the change is reported on the next confirmation statement. Q: Is stamp duty payable on a share transfer? A: It can be, depending on the consideration. Where duty is due, HMRC stamps the form before the company registers the transfer. Q: What are share classes for? A: Different rights — voting, dividends, capital on a winding up. Separate classes let you pay different dividends to different holders, or give someone economics without control. Q: What are pre-emption rights? A: A right of first refusal for existing shareholders when new shares are issued or existing ones sold. They are in most articles, and ignoring them can make an allotment challengeable years later. Q: Can I issue shares to someone overseas? A: Yes. There is no residency requirement for shareholders, though it may make identity verification and banking more involved. Q: What is a shareholders' agreement? A: A private contract between shareholders covering what the articles do not — deadlock, leavers, drag and tag rights, what happens if someone stops working in the business. It is not filed anywhere. Q: Can shares be issued unpaid? A: Yes, wholly or partly. The unpaid amount remains owed to the company, it is a debt, and it appears on the public statement of capital. Q: How do dividends work? A: They are paid out of distributable profits, in proportion to shareholding within a class, and must be documented. Paying a dividend the company cannot afford makes it unlawful and repayable. ### Addresses and privacy Q: What is a registered office address? A: The company's official address, published on the public register, where Companies House and HMRC write. Every company must have one, in its jurisdiction of registration. Q: What is a director service address? A: The correspondence address for an individual director, secretary or PSC. It is published. Without one, that person's home address goes on the public register instead. Q: Is a service address the same as a registered office? A: No. One belongs to the company, the other to the person, and they are separate records at Companies House. Buying a registered office does not give your directors a service address. Q: What is a business trading address? A: The commercial address customers, suppliers and couriers use. It is not filed anywhere and not published — it exists for commerce, not compliance. Q: Can I use my home address? A: Yes, and it costs nothing. It then appears on the public register, free to search, and it stays in the historic record even after you change it. Q: Can I remove my home address after using it? A: You can change it going forward. Anything already published stays in the filing history, though a separate application to suppress a residential address is possible in defined circumstances. Q: Can a registered office be a PO box? A: Not on its own. It must be an appropriate address where documents can be delivered and receipt acknowledged. Q: Does the registered office have to be where I work? A: No. It must be in the jurisdiction of registration, but it does not have to be where the business operates. Q: Can I change my registered office later? A: Yes, by filing the change. It must stay within the same jurisdiction — an England and Wales company cannot move its registered office to Scotland. Q: What happens to post sent to a service I have cancelled? A: It should be returned to sender. Change the address at Companies House and tell anyone else who writes to it, before the service ends. Q: How many companies share your addresses? A: It is capped, and we monitor the public register for companies using our addresses without arranging it. An address shared with thousands of companies attracts scrutiny that lands on you. Q: Do I need all four address types? A: No. A registered office is required. A service address is required unless you are content for a home address to be published. The other two exist for trade, not compliance. ### Identity and anti-money-laundering Q: Who has to verify their identity? A: Directors, members of an LLP, and people with significant control. Anyone filing on a company's behalf must also be verified. Q: How is identity verified? A: Either directly with Companies House, or through an authorised corporate service provider — an ACSP — which is a status Companies House grants and which can be checked. Q: Do I verify once, or for every company? A: Once. Verification attaches to the person, so a director of four companies verifies a single time and the status is used for all of them. Q: Can I verify from outside the UK? A: Yes. It takes more evidence, and documents may need certifying or translating, but there is no requirement to be in the UK. Q: What happens if I do not verify? A: Acting as a director without a verified identity is an offence, and Companies House can reject filings made by unverified people. Q: Why do you ask for identity documents before taking payment? A: Because an address activated before anyone is checked is how addresses get abused, and because we are obliged to. It is a condition of the service, not an afterthought. Q: What are your anti-money-laundering obligations? A: Client due diligence, record keeping, and in defined circumstances making a report. We are supervised, and the supervisor and registration number are in the footer of every page. Q: Will you tell me if you make a report? A: No — we are prohibited from doing so. That is also why we will never claim that no report has been made. ### Banking and money Q: Can you guarantee a business bank account? A: No, and nobody can. Every provider decides for itself, applies its own checks, and may decline without giving a reason. Q: What is the difference between a bank and an e-money institution? A: A bank holds deposits protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 per depositor per licence. An e-money institution safeguards money separately instead — a real protection, but a different one. Q: Will a bank accept a registered office address? A: Some will, some will not, and some accept it for the registered office but want a separate operating address. Worth knowing before you apply rather than after a refusal. Q: Can a non-resident open a UK business account? A: It is possible but harder. Some providers require a UK-resident director, some require a visit, and some onboard remotely with more evidence. Q: Do I need a business account, or can I use my personal one? A: A limited company's money is not your money, and mixing them makes accounts, tax and any future dispute considerably harder. Most banks also prohibit business use of a personal account. Q: Why was my application declined? A: Providers rarely say. The usual causes are identity evidence that does not match the register, a vague description of the business, SIC codes that contradict it, or an ownership chain that is not fully explained. Q: Do you get paid for bank introductions? A: Where a provider pays a referral fee we will tell you, on the introduction, before you apply. It does not change what we tell you about your chances. Q: Can I open an account before the company exists? A: No. A provider needs the company number, so incorporation comes first. Everything else can be prepared in parallel. ### Filings and deadlines Q: What is a confirmation statement? A: An annual filing confirming the information on the register is correct — officers, PSCs, registered office, SIC codes, share capital and shareholders. It is due whether or not anything changed. Q: When is the confirmation statement due? A: Within 14 days of the end of your review period, which runs from incorporation or from the day after your last statement. Q: What happens if I miss it? A: It is an offence by the company and its officers, and it is the usual trigger for Companies House proposing to strike the company off. Filing it, and objecting to any strike-off notice, stops that. Q: Is a confirmation statement the same as annual accounts? A: No. Separate filings, separate deadlines. Accounts report the finances; the confirmation statement confirms the register. Q: When are annual accounts due? A: Generally within nine months of the accounting reference date for a private company, and sooner for a public one. Late accounts carry an automatic penalty that doubles for consecutive years. Q: What does dormant mean? A: No significant accounting transactions in the period. It is a precise test, not "we forgot about it" — a single invoice payment can break it. Q: Does a dormant company still file? A: Yes. Dormant accounts and a confirmation statement are both still due every year. Q: Can I change my accounting reference date? A: Yes, within limits, and it can be shortened more freely than it can be extended. There are restrictions on how often it can be lengthened. Q: How do I close a company down? A: A solvent company that has stopped trading can apply to be struck off. A company that cannot pay its debts needs an insolvency practitioner instead. Q: What happens to money left in a company at dissolution? A: It passes to the Crown as bona vacantia. Distribute what is left, properly and with tax advice, before applying. Q: Can a dissolved company be restored? A: Yes, administratively or by court order, generally within six years. Creditors do use it. Q: Who is responsible for filings — me or my agent? A: You. The company and its officers carry the statutory duty. An agent can do the work and track the dates, but the obligation never transfers. ### Tax and VAT Q: Do I have to register for corporation tax? A: Yes, with HMRC, within three months of starting to trade. The company UTR arrives by post to the registered office. Q: What is a company UTR? A: A unique taxpayer reference for the company, issued by HMRC after incorporation. It is not the same as your personal UTR. Q: When do I have to register for VAT? A: Once taxable turnover passes the registration threshold HMRC sets, or voluntarily before that. Check the current threshold on gov.uk rather than trusting a figure quoted anywhere else. Q: Should I register for VAT voluntarily? A: It can help if your customers are VAT-registered businesses and you have input tax to reclaim. It usually hurts if you sell to consumers, because your prices effectively rise by a fifth. Q: What is the flat rate scheme? A: A simplified VAT scheme suiting businesses with few costs, and a worse deal for businesses buying a lot of goods. It depends on your numbers, not a rule of thumb. Q: Do I need PAYE? A: If the company pays anyone a salary, including a sole director, yes — before the first payday. Q: Salary or dividends? A: Both have different tax and different paperwork, and the balance depends on profit, other income and the current rates. This is a question for an accountant looking at your numbers. Q: Is a director's loan taxable? A: Money taken that is neither salary nor dividend is a director's loan, and one left outstanding past the deadline attracts a corporation tax charge until it is repaid. Q: Does a UK company make me UK tax resident? A: Not automatically. Where a company is managed and controlled affects where it is taxed, and you may have obligations in your own country. Take advice locally as well as here. ## Glossary (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary) ### Companies House (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/companies-house) Companies House is the UK registrar of companies: it incorporates companies, holds the public register of them, and receives their statutory filings. It is a registrar, not a regulator of how businesses trade. It records what companies tell it, publishes that record free of charge, and enforces the duty to file — but it does not licence trades, resolve disputes between shareholders, or check that a business is any good. There are separate registries for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and a company belongs to whichever one it was registered in, permanently. ### Company number (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/company-number) A company number is the unique eight-character identifier Companies House assigns at incorporation, which never changes for the life of the company. It survives a change of name, a change of address, a change of every director and shareholder. Scottish companies carry an SC prefix and Northern Irish ones NI, which is why the number quietly tells you where a company was registered. Quote it, not the name, whenever precision matters — names are reused, numbers are not. ### Certificate of incorporation (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/certificate-of-incorporation) A certificate of incorporation is the document Companies House issues to confirm a company legally exists, showing its name, number and date of incorporation. It is the company's birth certificate, and banks, landlords and overseas registries ask for it constantly. A replacement can be obtained at any time; a certificate issued on a change of name records the new name and the same number. ### Certificate of good standing (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/certificate-of-good-standing) A certificate of good standing is a Companies House document confirming a company has existed continuously since incorporation and faces no strike-off action. Overseas banks, registries and counterparties ask for it constantly, usually alongside an apostille. Companies House will not issue one for a company with overdue filings, which makes a refusal a useful early warning: whoever asked for the certificate is about to discover the same thing. ### Registered office (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/registered-office) A registered office is a company's official address, published on the public register, where Companies House and HMRC send statutory post. Every company must have one, it must sit in the jurisdiction of registration, and since the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act it must be an "appropriate address" where documents can be delivered and receipt acknowledged. A PO box alone will not satisfy that. It belongs to the company, not to any person in it. ### Service address (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/service-address) A service address is the published correspondence address for a director, secretary or PSC, used instead of their home address. It belongs to the person, not the company, and it is recorded per appointment: a director of three companies needs one recorded against all three. Without one, Companies House publishes that person's usual residential address, and anything already published stays in the filing history. ### Appropriate address (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/appropriate-address) An appropriate address is one where a delivered document would come to the attention of someone acting for the company, and where delivery can be acknowledged. The test was introduced to stop companies registering at addresses with no connection to them. It is why an unattended PO box no longer works as a registered office, and why a serious address provider logs post and can evidence receipt. ### Jurisdiction (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/jurisdiction) A company's jurisdiction is the part of the UK it is registered in — England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland — and it cannot be changed after incorporation. It fixes the registry that holds the file, the number prefix, and where the registered office must be. It is not the same as where the business trades or where its directors live, and it is one of very few decisions at formation that is genuinely permanent. ### Director (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/director) A director is a person appointed to manage a company, owing it seven statutory duties, whose appointment is published on the public register. Anyone aged 16 or over who is not disqualified and not an undischarged bankrupt can be one, of any nationality and living anywhere. Being a director is not the same as owning the company — that is a shareholder — although in most small companies the same person does both. ### Directors' duties (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/directors-duties) Directors' duties are the seven statutory obligations in the Companies Act, including acting within powers and avoiding conflicts of interest. They are owed to the company, not to shareholders individually, and they do not switch off because a company is small or dormant. When a company nears insolvency the emphasis shifts towards creditors — which is the point at which directors most often need advice and least often take it. ### Company secretary (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/company-secretary) A company secretary is an officer responsible for a company's administration and filings — optional for a private company, compulsory and qualified for a public one. Private companies stopped being required to appoint one in 2008, and most do not. Where one is appointed, the appointment is filed and published like a director's, and the role carries real responsibility for the registers and the filing calendar. ### Shareholder (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/shareholder) A shareholder owns shares in a company, which carry defined rights: typically to vote, to receive dividends, and to share in capital on a winding up. Shareholders own the company; directors run it. Shareholders are recorded in the company's own register of members, which is the legal proof of ownership — not the public register, which is only updated once a year on the confirmation statement. ### Register of members (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/register-of-members) The register of members is the company's own record of who owns its shares, and it — not Companies House — is the legal evidence of share ownership. It must be kept up to date as transfers happen, not once a year when the confirmation statement falls due. Undocumented transfers are found during due diligence, years later, at exactly the moment a buyer or a lender is looking. ### Person with significant control (PSC) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/psc) A person with significant control holds more than 25% of a company's shares or voting rights, or otherwise exercises control over it. The PSC register is public and is one of the main transparency measures in UK company law. Where control sits behind a holding company or a trust, the chain has to be worked through to the people at the end of it. Filing it incorrectly is a criminal offence rather than an administrative slip. ### Share capital (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/share-capital) Share capital is the total nominal value of the shares a company has issued, recorded in a statement of capital at Companies House. A private company has no minimum. A public limited company needs at least £50,000 issued, with a quarter of the nominal value paid up, before it can be issued a trading certificate. Nominal value is not market value — it is the amount a shareholder is liable for on an unpaid share. ### Nominal value (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/nominal-value) Nominal value is the face value assigned to a share — commonly £1 or one penny — which sets what the holder owes the company if the share is unpaid. It has nothing to do with what the share is worth. Issuing a hundred penny shares rather than one pound share costs the same and divides far more cleanly when a second shareholder arrives, which is why the single £1 share is the most commonly regretted decision at formation. ### Stock transfer form (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/stock-transfer-form) A stock transfer form is the document used to transfer existing shares from one holder to another, and is stamped by HMRC where stamp duty is payable. The transfer is not filed at Companies House when it happens — the company approves it, updates its register of members, and reports the change on the next confirmation statement. The form and the board minute are the evidence that it occurred. ### Articles of association (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/articles-of-association) Articles of association are a company's internal rulebook, governing how directors act, how shares are issued and transferred, and how decisions are made. Model articles apply by default and are adequate for a single-shareholder company. With more than one shareholder they are close to silent on the things that go wrong — deadlock, a member leaving, a founder who stops working in the business — which is what a shareholders' agreement or bespoke articles exist to cover. ### Memorandum of association (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/memorandum-of-association) A memorandum of association is the short statutory document in which the first shareholders confirm they agree to form the company and take at least one share each. It is fixed at incorporation and cannot be amended afterwards. Under the older Companies Acts it carried the company's objects clause; since 2006 a company has unrestricted objects unless its articles say otherwise. ### Shareholders' agreement (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/shareholders-agreement) A shareholders' agreement is a private contract between shareholders covering matters the articles do not, and it is not filed at Companies House. It typically deals with deadlock, what happens when someone leaves or dies, drag-along and tag-along rights, and what a shareholder may or may not do in competition with the company. Being private is often the point — it is the document nobody outside the company gets to read. ### Confirmation statement (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/confirmation-statement) A confirmation statement is the annual filing in which a company confirms that the information Companies House holds about it is correct. It covers officers, people with significant control, registered office, SIC codes, share capital and shareholders. It is due whether or not anything changed, and failing to file it is the most common route to a company being struck off the register. ### Dormant company (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/dormant-company) A dormant company is one that has had no significant accounting transactions during its financial year. It is a precise test, not a description of intent — a single invoice payment or bank charge can break dormancy and require full accounts instead. A dormant company still files dormant accounts and a confirmation statement every year. ### Annual accounts (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/annual-accounts) Annual accounts are the yearly financial statements a company files at Companies House and, in a fuller form, with HMRC. Small companies can usually file abridged or filleted accounts, which show less publicly. The filing deadline is generally nine months after the accounting reference date for a private company, and late filing carries an automatic penalty that doubles if it happens two years running. ### Accounting reference date (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/accounting-reference-date) The accounting reference date is the date a company's financial year ends, set by default to the anniversary of the end of the month of incorporation. It drives the accounts deadline. It can be changed, but a period can be shortened more freely than it can be extended, and there are limits on how often it can be lengthened. ### Strike off (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/strike-off) Strike off is the removal of a company from the register so that it ceases to exist, either voluntarily or compulsorily by Companies House. Anything the company still owns at dissolution — including money in the bank — passes to the Crown as bona vacantia. A struck-off company can generally be restored for up to six years, which is why striking off a company with debts is not the escape it appears to be. ### Bona vacantia (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/bona-vacantia) Bona vacantia is the rule under which property left in a dissolved company passes to the Crown. It catches cash balances, property, and intellectual property that nobody thought to deal with before dissolution. Recovering it usually means paying to restore the company to the register first, which costs far more than distributing the assets properly would have. ### Identity verification (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/identity-verification) Identity verification is the legal requirement for directors and people with significant control to prove who they are, directly or through an authorised provider. It attaches to the person rather than the company, so it is done once and reused across every appointment they hold. Acting as a director without it is an offence, and Companies House can reject filings made by unverified people. ### Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/acsp) An ACSP is a firm registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money-laundering, permitted to verify identities and to file on behalf of others. Registration is granted by Companies House and can be checked, which is the point of it — it separates supervised providers from anyone with a website. From late 2026, third parties filing on behalf of companies are expected to need ACSP registration to do so. ### Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/utr) A company UTR is the ten-digit reference HMRC issues to a company for corporation tax, sent by post to the registered office shortly after incorporation. It is not the same as a personal UTR, and it is not the company number. It is needed for the corporation tax return and for most dealings with HMRC, which is one practical reason the registered office needs to be an address somebody actually reads. ### Corporation tax (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/corporation-tax) Corporation tax is the tax a UK company pays on its profits, registered for with HMRC within three months of starting to trade. It is separate from the accounts filed at Companies House, on a separate deadline, and payable before the return is due. A company that has never traded may be able to tell HMRC it is dormant for corporation tax, which does not remove its Companies House obligations. ### Public limited company (PLC) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/glossary/plc) A public limited company may offer shares to the public, and needs £50,000 of issued share capital, two directors and a qualified company secretary. A PLC is not the same as a listed company — most PLCs are not on any exchange. A newly registered one cannot trade or borrow until Companies House issues a trading certificate confirming the capital requirement has been met. ## Guides (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice) ### Ceased or suspended Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-ceased-or-suspended-authorised-corporate-service-providers-acsps) Published 2026-09-09. This list includes details of businesses and sole traders that have had their ACSP status either suspended or ceased (removed). Guidance published by Companies House on 4 September 2026. This list includes details of businesses and sole traders that have had their ACSP status either suspended or ceased (removed). This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### List of Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-list-of-authorised-corporate-service-providers-acsps) Published 2026-09-09. This list includes details of businesses and sole traders that have registered as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). This is also known as an authorised agent. Guidance published by Companies House on 4 September 2026. This list includes details of businesses and sole traders that have registered as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). This is also known as an authorised agent. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Set up and run a limited liability partnership (LLP) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-set-up-and-run-a-limited-liability-partnership-llp) Published 2026-09-09. Explains your responsibilities, including choosing a name, having a registered address, appointing designated members and registering with Companies House. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 2 September 2026. Explains your responsibilities, including choosing a name, having a registered address, appointing designated members and registering with Companies House. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Objections to company strike off to be submitted online only from 1 December 2026 (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-objections-to-company-strike-off-to-be-submitted-online-only-from-1-december-2026) Published 2026-09-09. Objections to limited companies being struck off the Companies House register will need to be submitted through our online service only. We will no longer accept objections by email. News story published by Companies House on 1 September 2026. Objections to limited companies being struck off the Companies House register will need to be submitted through our online service only. We will no longer accept objections by email. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Changes to how you sign in to the Find and update company information service (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-changes-to-how-you-sign-in-to-the-find-and-update-company-information-service) Published 2026-09-09. GOV.UK One Login will become the main sign-in option for the Find and update company information service. News story published by Companies House on 20 August 2026. GOV.UK One Login will become the main sign-in option for the Find and update company information service. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Order certified documents and certificates from Companies House (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-order-certified-copies-and-certificates-from-companies-house) Published 2026-09-09. How to order certified copies of certificates and documents held on the Companies House register. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 17 August 2026. How to order certified copies of certificates and documents held on the Companies House register. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### CIC Accounts User Feedback (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-cic-accounts-user-feedback) Published 2026-09-09. Companies House want to hear your experiences of using the Package Accounts Upload Service News story published by Companies House on 11 August 2026. Companies House want to hear your experiences of using the Package Accounts Upload Service This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Apply to protect your details on the Companies House register (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-applying-to-protect-your-personal-information-on-the-companies-house-register) Published 2026-09-09. For company directors, LLP members or people with significant control (PSCs) who are at serious risk and want to protect their personal information from the public. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 11 August 2026. For company directors, LLP members or people with significant control (PSCs) who are at serious risk and want to protect their personal information from the public. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Fit and proper criteria for Authorised Corporate Service Providers (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-fit-and-proper-criteria-for-authorised-corporate-service-providers) Published 2026-09-09. How the registrar will assess whether an applicant, or existing Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), is fit and proper to carry out the functions of an ACSP. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 11 August 2026. How the registrar will assess whether an applicant, or existing Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), is fit and proper to carry out the functions of an ACSP. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Directors disqualified for a total of 70 years following Companies House prosecutions (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-directors-disqualified-for-a-total-of-70-years-following-companies-house-prosecutions) Published 2026-09-09. Twenty three company directors were disqualified in the first 6 months of this year for persistent or serious non-compliance with their responsibilities. Press release published by Companies House on 6 August 2026. Twenty three company directors were disqualified in the first 6 months of this year for persistent or serious non-compliance with their responsibilities. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### When you need to verify your identity for Companies House (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-when-you-need-to-verify-your-identity-for-companies-house) Published 2026-09-09. When you need to verify depends on your role, and when you started that role. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 30 July 2026. When you need to verify depends on your role, and when you started that role. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### People with significant control (PSCs) (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-people-with-significant-control-pscs) Published 2026-09-09. How to identify and record the people who own or control your company. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 30 July 2026. How to identify and record the people who own or control your company. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Incorporated companies in the UK by jurisdiction and month: quality and methods guide (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-incorporated-companies-in-the-uk-by-jurisdiction-and-month-quality-and-methods-guide) Published 2026-09-09. What the company statistics cover, how Companies House produces them and their quality and comparability. It includes definitions and latest, past and future changes. Guidance published by Companies House on 30 July 2026. What the company statistics cover, how Companies House produces them and their quality and comparability. It includes definitions and latest, past and future changes. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Incorporation and names (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-incorporation-and-names) Published 2026-09-09. Sets out the main requirements for incorporating and naming a company in the UK, including business names and charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs). Guidance published by Companies House on 21 July 2026. Sets out the main requirements for incorporating and naming a company in the UK, including business names and charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs). This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Reporting scams pretending to be from Companies House (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-reporting-scams-pretending-to-be-from-companies-house) Published 2026-09-09. What to do if you think you've noticed a scam pretending to be from Companies House, and examples of scam emails, letters and telephone calls. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 16 July 2026. What to do if you think you've noticed a scam pretending to be from Companies House, and examples of scam emails, letters and telephone calls. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### How to prove your identity for Companies House at the Post Office (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-how-to-prove-your-identity-for-companies-house-at-the-post-office) Published 2026-09-09. How to complete your identity verification in person at a Post Office, once you've entered your photo ID details online. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 13 July 2026. How to complete your identity verification in person at a Post Office, once you've entered your photo ID details online. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Companies House personal codes for identity verification (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-companies-house-personal-codes-for-identity-verification) Published 2026-09-09. How to use and manage the personal code you receive when you verify your identity for Companies House. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 13 July 2026. How to use and manage the personal code you receive when you verify your identity for Companies House. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Ask Companies House for information about a trust (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-ask-companies-house-for-information-about-a-trust) Published 2026-09-09. How to submit a request to Companies House to get trust information for an overseas entity, and what details we'll share. Detailed guide published by Companies House on 9 July 2026. How to submit a request to Companies House to get trust information for an overseas entity, and what details we'll share. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Companies House fees (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-companies-house-fees) Published 2026-09-09. A list of all the fees Companies House charges, and how we determine these fees. Guidance published by Companies House on 2 July 2026. A list of all the fees Companies House charges, and how we determine these fees. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### Filing your Companies House accounts (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/companies-house-life-of-a-company-annual-requirements) Published 2026-09-09. How to prepare and file annual accounts with Companies House for your UK registered company. Guidance published by Companies House on 30 June 2026. How to prepare and file annual accounts with Companies House for your UK registered company. This is a summary of an official publication. Read it in full on GOV.UK, which is the authoritative version — where anything here differs from it, GOV.UK is right and we are wrong. If you are not sure how this affects a company we look after, ask us and a person will answer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ### What insurance does a newly formed company actually need? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/what-insurance-does-a-new-company-need) Published 2026-09-08. One type is a legal requirement, several are contractual requirements, and the rest depend on what you would lose. Insurance for a new company divides into three: what the law requires, what your contracts require, and what you would want if something went wrong. Only the first is non-negotiable. Required by law Employer's liability. Most employers must hold at least £5 million of cover from the day their first employee starts. Penalties apply per day without it. A company with no employees does not need it — but check whether a sole director counts in your circumstances rather than assuming. Motor insurance, if the company owns or operates vehicles. Required by contracts Professional indemnity. Not a legal requirement for most businesses, but demanded constantly by clients, and required by some regulators. If you give advice or produce work that someone relies on, expect to be asked for it — often at a specified level before a contract is signed. Public liability. Frequently required by landlords, venues and larger customers, and sensible for anyone whose work brings them into contact with the public or third-party premises. Worth considering Directors' and officers' liability — covers directors personally for claims arising from their decisions. Limited liability does not protect a director from claims against them personally. Cyber — for businesses holding customer data or dependent on systems. Business interruption and contents — where premises, stock or equipment matter. Product liability — if you make, import or sell physical goods. How to decide Start from what would actually hurt: a claim from a client, an injury on your premises, a stolen laptop full of customer data, or a month unable to trade. Insure those, and treat the rest as optional until the business changes shape. What we do not do We do not sell insurance and we are not authorised to advise on it. This is general context so you know which questions to ask a broker — nothing more. ### Does your company have to pay the ICO data protection fee? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/ico-data-protection-fee) Published 2026-09-07. Most companies that process personal data must pay it, most do not know it exists, and it is enforced. Organisations that process personal data generally have to pay a data protection fee to the Information Commissioner's Office, unless they are exempt. It is a legal requirement, separate from anything Companies House or HMRC ask of you. Who has to pay If your company processes personal data — customer records, employee records, a mailing list, CCTV — it is likely in scope. The fee is tiered by size and turnover, and the ICO publishes the current amounts and a self-assessment tool on its own website. Check there rather than trusting a figure quoted elsewhere, including here. Who is exempt Exemptions exist, and they are narrower than people assume. Processing only for core business purposes such as staff administration, accounts and records, or advertising your own business, can qualify — but adding almost any other activity, such as CCTV or marketing to purchased lists, takes you out of it. What happens if you do not The ICO can issue a monetary penalty for non-payment, and it does. It writes to companies at their registered office, which is another reason that address needs to be one somebody actually reads. Paying it is not compliance The fee is an administrative requirement. It does not mean you are handling personal data lawfully. You still need a lawful basis for processing, a privacy notice, sensible retention periods and a way to answer a subject access request. Practical steps for a new company Run the ICO's self-assessment when you start processing data, not a year later. Pay the fee if you are in scope, and diarise the renewal. Write a privacy notice that describes what you actually do. Decide how long you keep things, and why. ### You missed the confirmation statement deadline. Now what? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/confirmation-statement-deadline-missed) Published 2026-09-07. What actually happens when a confirmation statement is late, how strike-off proceedings start, and how to stop them. A confirmation statement is due once a year, within 14 days of the end of your review period, whether or not anything changed. Missing it is common, fixable, and worth fixing immediately — because of what it starts. What actually happens There is no automatic financial penalty for a late confirmation statement in the way there is for late accounts. What there is instead is worse: failing to file is a criminal offence by the company and its officers, and it is the trigger Companies House uses to begin striking the company off. Strike-off runs on a published timetable. A notice appears in the Gazette. If nothing happens, the company is dissolved — and everything it owns, including money in the bank, passes to the Crown as bona vacantia. What it costs you before that Banks refuse facilities to companies with overdue filings, and some close accounts. Companies House will not issue a certificate of good standing, which stalls anything international. Customers running supplier checks see the overdue status, because it is public. The strike-off notice is public too, and it stays in the filing history afterwards. How to stop it File the statement. If a strike-off notice has already been published, filing the outstanding documents and objecting to the proposal is usually enough for Companies House to suspend it. The objection has to be made, though — it does not happen automatically because you filed. If the company has already been dissolved It can usually be restored, either administratively or by court order, generally within six years. Administrative restoration requires the outstanding filings to be brought up to date and the bona vacantia position dealt with. It costs considerably more than the statement would have. The boring prevention The reason companies miss it is almost never negligence. It is that the reminder went to an address nobody reads, often a former accountant or a home the director moved out of two years ago. Point the registered office somewhere that is actually monitored, and put the date in a calendar you look at. Our confirmation statement service includes recording the next review date and reminding you before it falls due. ### Do you need a trade mark as well as a company name? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/do-i-need-a-trade-mark) Published 2026-09-05. Registering at Companies House gives you a company name and no brand rights whatsoever. Here is the difference, and when it matters. Registering a company name and registering a trade mark are two separate systems, run by two separate bodies, granting two completely different things. Confusing them is common and occasionally expensive. What a company name gives you The right to be registered under that name at Companies House, and protection only against another company registering something that reduces to the same name under the "same as" rules. That is all. It is not a brand right and it is not enforceable against someone trading under a similar name without incorporating. What a trade mark gives you An exclusive right to use a mark for the goods or services it is registered for, and the ability to stop others using something confusingly similar in that field. It is registered with the Intellectual Property Office, in classes, and it can be enforced. The awkward overlap A name can be lawfully registered at Companies House and still infringe someone else's trade mark. The mark holder can object to your company name and force a change, and they can stop you trading under it. Companies House does not check the trade mark register when it registers your company, and neither does any formation agent's availability checker — including ours, which says so on the page. When to bother You are building a consumer brand where the name carries value. You will invest in marketing under that name. You are raising money — investors ask. You sell online, where marketplaces and platforms act on trade mark complaints quickly. When not to If you are trading under your own name locally, or the business is a vehicle for contracting rather than a brand, a trade mark is usually cost without benefit. Do the search first Before you commit to a name — on the register, on signage, on a domain — search the trade mark register as well as Companies House. Finding a conflict costs nothing at that stage and everything two years later. ### Opening a UK business bank account as a non-resident (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/uk-business-bank-account-non-resident) Published 2026-09-04. Forming the company is the easy part. This is what actually decides whether you get an account, and what to do when you are declined. Nothing stops a non-resident forming a UK company. There is no residency requirement for directors or shareholders, and no requirement to visit. Registration is straightforward, and any agent can do it. Banking is where non-resident formations stall, and it is worth resolving before you buy a formation that assumes an account you cannot get. Banks and e-money institutions are not the same thing A UK-licensed bank holds deposits protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, up to £85,000 per eligible depositor per banking licence. An e-money institution safeguards your money instead — held separately from the firm's own funds, which is a real protection but a different one, and slower to pay out if the firm fails. Most non-residents end up at an e-money institution, because they onboard faster and accept setups a high street bank declines. That is a reasonable outcome as long as you know which one you are in. Check the firm on the FCA register rather than trusting a comparison table, including ours. What decides the answer Where the directors live. Some providers require a UK-resident director. Some require an in-person visit. Some onboard remotely with more evidence. Your address. Some will not bank a company whose only address is a mail-handling address. That is a fact about them, not a defect in you, but it needs knowing beforehand. What the business actually does. "Consultancy" tells a compliance officer nothing. What is sold, to whom, paid how, from where. SIC codes that match that description. Chosen in seconds at formation, read years later as a statement of intent. The ownership chain. A holding company, a trust or a shareholder abroad, set out in full. Have this ready Passport or national ID for every director and PSC. Proof of residential address, recent. Certificate of incorporation. A one-paragraph description of the business. Expected monthly turnover and the countries money moves between. Documents in another language usually need certified translation, and often an apostille — which we arrange. If you are declined You are entitled to apply elsewhere, and a decline from one provider does not follow you to another. What does follow you is a pattern of applications with inconsistent information, so fix the inconsistency before you reapply. Ask honestly whether the problem is fixable, whether waiting until there is trading history helps, and whether a different type of account fits what you actually need. Nobody can guarantee you an account. Anyone who says they can is selling something they do not control. How our introductions work. ### Hiring your first employee: what a company must do (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/hiring-your-first-employee) Published 2026-09-03. PAYE, pensions, insurance and the contract — the four things that must exist before the first payday, not after it. Taking on your first employee turns a company into an employer, with obligations that start on day one rather than at the end of the first month. Register as an employer You need a PAYE scheme before the first payday. Real time information submissions are made on or before each payment, so a scheme registered afterwards means late filings from the start. We can set the scheme up if you would rather not. Employer's liability insurance This one is a legal requirement, not a recommendation. Most employers must hold employer's liability cover of at least £5 million from the day the first employee starts, and the certificate must be available to employees. Penalties apply for every day you trade without it. A written statement of employment particulars Employees and workers are entitled to a written statement of the main terms on or before their first day. It covers pay, hours, holiday, notice, place of work and more. A verbal agreement and a handshake is not compliance. Pensions Automatic enrolment duties begin on the employee's start date, not later. You must assess the employee, enrol them if eligible, contribute, and complete a declaration of compliance with the Pensions Regulator. Even if nobody is eligible, the declaration is still required. Right to work Check and record the employee's right to work in the UK before they start. Doing it properly is what gives you a statutory excuse if the position later turns out to be wrong. Practical order of events Agree the terms, in writing. Check right to work, and keep the evidence. Register the PAYE scheme. Arrange employer's liability insurance. Set up payroll software and run the first RTI submission on or before payday. Assess the employee for automatic enrolment and complete the declaration. Directors count A company paying its own director a salary is an employer for PAYE purposes. The pension position for a sole director with no employment contract can differ — confirm it rather than assuming either way. ### Changing your company's year end (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/changing-your-company-year-end) Published 2026-09-01. You can shorten an accounting period almost freely and lengthen it only within limits. Here is what those limits are. Your accounting reference date is set by default to the anniversary of the end of the month you incorporated in. It can be changed, and there are good reasons to — but the rules are not symmetrical. Shortening A period can be shortened as often as you like, and by as much as you like. Companies do it to align with a parent company, a tax year, or a natural business cycle. Lengthening More restricted. A period can generally be extended to a maximum of eighteen months, and not more than once in five years, unless a specific exception applies — for example aligning with a parent or subsidiary, or where the company is in administration. What it does to your deadlines Changing the year end changes the accounts filing deadline, sometimes dramatically. Shortening a period can bring a deadline forward to sooner than you expect, which is the trap: a change made for convenience creates an accounts deadline three weeks away. You cannot change a period that is already overdue Extending a period to escape a filing deadline you have already missed does not work. Companies House will not accept the change. Corporation tax follows separately A company's corporation tax accounting period is not automatically the same, and a period longer than twelve months is split into two for tax. Tell HMRC as well as Companies House, or you end up with returns due for periods you did not intend to create. ### Identity verification for directors: what changed and what you must do (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/director-identity-verification-eccta) Published 2026-08-31. Directors and people with significant control must now have a verified identity. Here is who it applies to, how it is done, and what a verified status does and does not cover. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act made identity verification a condition of holding office at a UK company. It is the biggest practical change to company registration in a generation, and it catches people who have been directors for twenty years. Who has to verify Directors of companies, and members of LLPs People with significant control Anyone filing at Companies House on a company's behalf How it is done Either directly with Companies House, or through an authorised corporate service provider — an ACSP — which is a status Companies House grants and which can be checked. We do it as an ACSP, which means one process, our records, and the reference retained. It attaches to the person, not the company Verify once and the status applies to every appointment you hold. A director of four companies does not verify four times. This is worth knowing before you pay an agent per company for it. Where it goes wrong Almost always a mismatch. A middle name on the passport that never made it onto the appointment. A name transliterated differently in two documents. An address that changed during the process. A document that expired last month. Check what the register says about you before you start, not after a rejection. What it does not do A verified identity is not a criminal record check, not a credit check, and not an endorsement. It confirms you are who you say you are. It does not confirm that the company is trustworthy, and no honest agent will imply otherwise. What happens if you do not Acting as a director without a verified identity is an offence, and Companies House can reject filings made by unverified people. In practice the first sign of trouble is a blocked appointment or a rejected confirmation statement — usually at the exact moment you needed it done. Our identity verification service sets out what documents are accepted, including from outside the UK. ### Does your company need a company secretary? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/company-secretary-do-you-need-one) Published 2026-08-30. Optional for a private company since 2008 — but the work the role used to do still has to be done by somebody. Private companies have not been required to appoint a company secretary since 2008. Public limited companies still must, and theirs must be qualified for the role. What the role actually is Keeping the statutory registers current, filing at Companies House on time, minuting board and shareholder decisions, and making sure resolutions are passed properly. Administrative, unglamorous, and the reason companies stay in good standing. If you do not appoint one The work does not go away — it falls to the directors, who are the ones legally responsible for it either way. Appointing a secretary does not transfer a director's duties; it just gives someone the job of doing the administration. Reasons to appoint one anyway Somebody is clearly accountable for the filing calendar. Larger counterparties and lenders sometimes ask who holds the role. It is a way to give an operations or finance person formal standing without making them a director. Reasons not to It is a filed, public appointment with its own service address, and removing someone later is another filing. For a sole-director company it usually adds paperwork to solve a problem you do not have. Who can be one For a private company, effectively anyone the company appoints — including a corporate secretary. For a PLC, the secretary must meet statutory qualification requirements, which is one of several reasons a PLC is a heavier structure than it looks. ### The PSC register: who counts, and how it goes wrong (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/psc-register-getting-it-right) Published 2026-08-28. People with significant control is the transparency rule most often filed incorrectly — and getting it wrong is a criminal offence, not an administrative slip. Every UK company must identify its people with significant control and record them on a public register. It is one of the few company filings where an error is a criminal matter rather than a fine. Who counts Anyone who meets one or more of the statutory conditions. In practice, for most small companies, that means anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or more than 25% of the voting rights. It also catches anyone who can appoint or remove a majority of directors, or who otherwise exercises significant influence or control. Where it gets complicated A company above you. If a holding company owns your shares, you look through it: the PSC is usually the person at the top of the chain, and the intermediate company is recorded as a relevant legal entity. Trusts. Control exercised through a trust needs the people behind it identified. Joint arrangements. Shareholders who have agreed to vote together may be treated as holding each other's rights. Influence without shares. Someone who directs how the company is run, without owning any of it, can still be a PSC. This is the condition people most often miss. When there is nobody A company with four equal shareholders may have no PSC at all. That is a legitimate answer — but it must be recorded as such. Leaving the register blank is not the same as recording that there is no PSC, and Companies House treats the two differently. Keeping it current The register must be updated when the position changes, and confirmed annually on the confirmation statement. A share issue or transfer that pushes someone over 25% changes the PSC position the day it happens, not the day you next file. Why it is worth being careful Failing to comply is an offence by the company and its officers. More practically, banks read the PSC register during onboarding, and a register that does not match what you tell them is one of the quickest ways to have an application refused. ### Company name rules: "same as", "too like" and sensitive words (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/company-name-rules-same-as-too-like-sensitive-words) Published 2026-08-27. Why a name that looks available gets rejected, why one that is accepted can still be taken away, and why neither has anything to do with trade marks. There are three different tests, applied by two different bodies, and a name can pass one and fail another. Most confusion about company names comes from treating them as one rule. "Same as" — an arithmetic test, applied on submission Companies House reduces both names by disregarding punctuation, spacing, the company-type ending and a list of common words — the, company, UK, GB, group, holdings, services and others — and treating certain characters as equivalents, so and and & are the same, and 1 and one are the same. "The Example Group Limited" and "Example Ltd" reduce to the same thing. If the first exists and is live, the second cannot be registered. A dissolved company does not block you — but it can be restored to the register, which would then create a conflict. This is the test our name checker applies, along with a live search of the register. "Too like" — a judgement, applied after registration Even where two names do not reduce identically, Companies House can direct a change if one is too like another, usually after an existing company objects within a defined period following registration. There is no formula. This is why nobody — including us — can tell you a name is definitely safe before submission. Sensitive words — permission, not prohibition Words implying a connection with government, a regulated profession, or a status the company may not hold are restricted: bank, royal, institute, chartered, trust, university, police, and many more. They are usable, but usually need written non-objection from a specified body first. The body differs by word, and so does what it wants to see. If your name is flagged, that is not the end of it. It is a letter to write. Trade marks — a completely separate system Registering a company name gives you no trade mark rights at all. A name can be lawfully registered at Companies House and still infringe someone's mark, and the mark holder can force you to stop using it. Search the trade mark register separately before you print anything. What to do before you commit Run the name through a checker that applies the statutory rules and searches the register. Search the trade mark register separately. Check the domain and the social handles, because a name you cannot use online is a name you will change. Say it out loud on a phone call. Spelling it three times a day is a tax you pay forever. ### Registered office, service address or trading address: which do you need? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/registered-office-vs-service-address-vs-trading-address) Published 2026-08-23. Four addresses do four different jobs. Buying the wrong one is the most common mistake in company formation, and the most expensive to unwind. People buy "a company address" as though it were one product. It is four, they do different jobs, and only two of them are published. Registered office: the company's official address Statutory. Every company must have one, in its jurisdiction of registration. It is published on the register and it is where Companies House and HMRC write. It belongs to the company, not to you. More on registered office addresses. Director service address: the person's official address Also published. It belongs to the individual director, secretary or person with significant control — not to the company — and it is recorded per person, per company. Without one, a director's home address goes on the public register. A director of three companies needs it recorded against all three. More on service addresses. Business trading address: the commercial one Not filed anywhere, not published. This is what goes on invoices, on the contact page, on the bank mandate. It exists for commerce, not compliance, and it needs to take ordinary post and parcels. More on trading addresses. Correspondence address: everything else Optional, unpublished, useful when directors are overseas or move often. More on correspondence addresses. The mistake almost everyone makes Buying a registered office and assuming it covers the directors. It does not — those are separate records at Companies House, and a registered office service does not put a service address on the register for anybody. If your name is on a company and you have not specifically arranged a service address, open the register and check what it says next to your name. It is free to look. What to ask an address provider How many companies are registered at this address? A shared address with thousands of companies attracts scrutiny that lands on you. Do you verify identity before activating an address, or after taking payment? Do you monitor the register for companies using the address without arranging it? What happens to post after the service ends? Is the price on renewal the same as the price today? Our answers are capped, before, yes, returned to sender after notice, and yes. The prices are published. ### How to register a company in the UK (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/how-to-register-a-company-in-the-uk) Published 2026-08-19. The eight things Companies House needs, what each one commits you to, and the decisions that are permanent. Registering a company takes minutes and commits you for years. Most of what goes wrong later is decided in the first ten minutes, by someone clicking through a form without knowing which fields are reversible. Here is what Companies House actually needs, and what each answer does to you afterwards. 1. A name that clears three separate tests The name must use permitted characters, end with a permitted ending, and not be the "same as" a name already on the register once punctuation, spacing, common words and the ending are stripped out. Separately, sensitive words need written non-objection from a named body. And separately again, none of this gives you trade mark rights. Run it through our company name check first — it applies the statutory rules and then searches the register itself. 2. A jurisdiction you cannot change later England & Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. It fixes the company number prefix, the registry holding the file, and where the registered office must be. A company cannot be moved between jurisdictions afterwards. Choose where the company will actually be administered. 3. A registered office that will be published This address goes on the public register, on your website and on your invoices. It must be an appropriate address where post can be delivered and receipt acknowledged — a PO box alone will not do. Use your home and it stays in the historic record even after you change it. That is why a registered office service exists. 4. At least one director A natural person aged 16 or over, not disqualified, not an undischarged bankrupt. There is no residency requirement — a director can live anywhere. Each director gives a service address, which is published, and a residential address, which Companies House holds privately. Without a separate service address, the residential one is published. 5. At least one shareholder Often the same person as the director. Being a director and being a shareholder are different things: one runs the company, the other owns it. Confusing them is the root of most shareholder disputes we see. 6. A statement of capital you will regret if you rush it How many shares, of what class, at what nominal value. One £1 ordinary share is legal and extremely common. It is also awkward: you cannot give someone 10% without issuing more shares or splitting the one you have. A hundred £0.01 shares costs the same £1 and divides cleanly. 7. People with significant control Anyone with more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or who otherwise controls the company. The PSC register is public, and filing it incorrectly is a criminal offence rather than an administrative slip. If a holding company or a trust sits above you, the chain has to be worked through properly. 8. Articles of association The rules the company runs by. The model articles are the default and are adequate for a single-shareholder company. The moment there are two shareholders, they are not: model articles say nothing useful about deadlock, about someone leaving, or about what happens when a shareholder stops working in the business. What it costs Companies House charges a statutory fee of £100 to incorporate digitally, £124 by paper, and £156 for the same-day digital service. That money goes to Companies House. An agent's own fee sits on top of it — ours is on the pricing page, with the two amounts shown separately. What happens next Corporation tax registration with HMRC within three months of starting to trade. Identity verification for directors and people with significant control. A confirmation statement every year. Accounts every year, even if dormant. A bank account, which for a non-resident is the hardest part of the whole exercise. If none of that needs help, register directly with Companies House and keep the money. An agent earns its fee on the parts that are easy to get wrong. ### Choosing SIC codes, and why they matter more than you think (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/choosing-sic-codes) Published 2026-08-14. Picked in thirty seconds at formation, then read for years by banks, insurers and lenders as a statement of what you actually do. A SIC code is a standard industrial classification describing the company's activity. You give at least one at incorporation, and you can give up to four. Most people choose in seconds from a dropdown and never think about them again. Who reads them Banks. Onboarding checks compare your SIC codes against what you say you do. A mismatch is a common reason an application stalls. Insurers. Cover is priced and sometimes refused on the basis of activity. Lenders and credit agencies. Sector influences credit scoring. Anyone doing due diligence. Customers, landlords, procurement teams. How to choose well Pick the code that describes what generates your revenue, not what you aspire to do. If you sell software, "computer programming activities" is the honest answer even if you describe yourself as a consultancy. Add secondary codes only for activities you actually carry on. Codes to avoid unless they are true Some codes attract scrutiny — those covering financial intermediation, money transfer, cryptocurrency, and general "other business support activities", which reads as "we did not want to say". Choosing one of these when it does not apply invites questions you did not need. Changing them SIC codes are updated on the confirmation statement, so at least once a year you get a free opportunity to correct them. If what you sell has drifted from what you registered, take it. Dormant companies There is a specific code for a dormant company. Using it while actively trading, or leaving a trading code on a genuinely dormant company, both create the same problem: the register says something different from the accounts. ### The director's loan account, explained (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/directors-loan-account-explained) Published 2026-08-12. What happens when money moves between you and your company without being salary or a dividend — and the tax charge that catches people out. A director's loan account records money owed between a director and the company in either direction. It is not a product you sign up for; it exists the moment money moves without being classified as something else. The two directions You owe the company. You took money out that was not salary, not a properly declared dividend, and not reimbursement of an expense. The account is overdrawn. The company owes you. You paid for something on a personal card, or lent it money to get started. That is a credit balance, and you can draw it back without tax. The charge that catches people If an overdrawn loan is still outstanding nine months and one day after the company's year end, the company pays a corporation tax charge on the outstanding amount. It is refundable once the loan is repaid, but the refund is slow and the cash goes out in the meantime. There is also a benefit-in-kind consequence where the loan exceeds a set amount and is interest-free or below the official rate. Repaying and re-borrowing Clearing the loan just before the deadline and taking the same money out again shortly afterwards does not work. There are anti-avoidance rules aimed precisely at that pattern. Keeping it clean Run personal spending through personal accounts, not the company's. Declare dividends properly, with a minute and a voucher, rather than reclassifying withdrawals at year end. Keep expense receipts, so reimbursements are not mistaken for drawings. Look at the balance during the year, not nine months after it ends. If the company cannot afford to be repaid An overdrawn director's loan is an asset of the company. If the company becomes insolvent, a liquidator will pursue it — and that is a personal liability regardless of limited liability. This is the point at which a loan account stops being an accounting curiosity. ### How to pay yourself a dividend, properly (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/how-to-pay-dividends-properly) Published 2026-08-10. Dividends are not "taking money out of the account". Here is what makes one lawful, and what happens when it is not. A dividend is a distribution of profit to shareholders. It is not a salary, it is not a transfer, and it is not whatever is left in the bank account at the end of the month. The one rule that matters A dividend can only be paid out of distributable profits — accumulated realised profits less accumulated losses. Cash in the bank is not the test. A company can be flush with cash from a VAT payment it has yet to hand over and have no distributable profit at all. A dividend paid when there were not the profits to support it is unlawful, and it can be reclaimed from the shareholder who received it, sometimes years later when the company is in difficulty. The paperwork Check the accounts show sufficient distributable profits at the date of the decision. Hold a directors' meeting — or, for a sole director, record the decision — and minute it. Issue a dividend voucher to each shareholder showing the company, the date, the shareholder and the amount. Pay it in proportion to holdings within a share class. You cannot pay one ordinary shareholder more per share than another. This is fifteen minutes a quarter. It is also the difference between a dividend and a director's loan when HMRC asks. Salary and dividends together Most owner-directors take a mix, because the two are taxed differently and interact with National Insurance and pension contributions. The right balance depends on profit, your other income and the current rates — it is a question for an accountant with your numbers, and the answer changes between tax years. If you took it without the paperwork Money taken that is neither salary nor a properly declared dividend is a director's loan. That has its own consequences, including a corporation tax charge if it is still outstanding past the deadline. It is fixable, but it is much easier to do the minute in the first place. ### Do I need to register my company for VAT? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/do-i-need-to-register-for-vat) Published 2026-08-08. When registration becomes compulsory, when volunteering helps, and when it quietly costs you a fifth of your margin. VAT registration is compulsory once your taxable turnover passes the threshold HMRC sets, and optional before that. Check the current threshold on gov.uk — it is reviewed, and a number quoted on any other website including this one may be out of date. Compulsory registration Two tests. A backward-looking one, on rolling taxable turnover over the previous twelve months, and a forward-looking one, if you expect to pass the threshold in the next thirty days alone. The second one catches people who win a single large contract. Register within thirty days of the end of the month in which you passed it. Miss that, and VAT is owed on sales made after the date you should have registered — whether or not you charged it to your customers. That comes straight out of margin, plus a penalty. Voluntary registration: when it helps If your customers are VAT-registered businesses, they reclaim the VAT you charge, so your prices are effectively unchanged to them — and you start reclaiming VAT on your own costs. If you have significant input tax, this is money back. When it hurts If you sell to consumers, VAT registration raises your prices by a fifth or cuts your margin by a fifth. There is no third option. Registering voluntarily "to look bigger" is an expensive way to look bigger. Which scheme Standard accounting. VAT on invoices raised and received, whether or not paid. Cash accounting. VAT when money actually moves — kinder on cash flow if customers pay slowly. Flat rate. A fixed percentage of turnover, simpler, and better only for businesses with few costs. It is worse for anyone buying a lot of goods. Annual accounting. One return a year with instalments. Making Tax Digital VAT records must be kept digitally and returns filed through compatible software. Factor that in before you register, not after. If you want us to handle it, VAT registration is one of our filing services — and if registering would be a mistake for your business, we will say so before taking a fee for it. ### What a shareholders' agreement actually covers (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/shareholders-agreement-what-it-covers) Published 2026-08-06. The document nobody wants to pay for, and the one that decides what happens when two founders stop agreeing. Model articles govern how a company runs. They say almost nothing about what happens when the people who own it fall out, and that is the situation a shareholders' agreement exists for. It is private Unlike the articles, a shareholders' agreement is not filed at Companies House. Nobody outside the company reads it. That is frequently the point — it can deal with money and personalities in terms you would not want published. What it typically deals with Leavers. What happens to shares when a founder resigns, is dismissed, dies or becomes ill. Without this, someone who left in year two still owns a quarter of the business in year ten. Deadlock. Two shareholders with 50% each and no mechanism is the most predictable disaster in small company law. Drag-along and tag-along. Whether a majority can force a minority into a sale, and whether a minority can insist on joining one. Decisions needing consent. Which things — borrowing, issuing shares, hiring at a certain level, changing the business — need more than a simple majority. Dividend policy. Whether profits get distributed or reinvested, and who decides. Restrictive covenants. What a departing shareholder may not do: compete, poach staff, take clients. Roles and commitment. Who is expected to work in the business, how much, and what happens if they stop. When to write it At the start, while everyone is still friendly and nobody knows who will end up wanting what. Negotiating a leaver clause when someone is already leaving is negotiating with a known answer. Does a sole shareholder need one? No. With one shareholder there is nobody to agree with. Write one when a second shareholder arrives, and make it a condition of them arriving. How it interacts with the articles The two need to be consistent. Where they conflict, sorting out which prevails is exactly the argument you were trying to avoid. This is a job for a solicitor, and it is one of the few points in setting up a company where paying for advice is unambiguously cheaper than not. ### How many shares should you issue when you form a company? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/how-many-shares-to-issue) Published 2026-08-04. Why one share is the most commonly regretted decision at formation, and what to do instead — at exactly the same cost. Most companies are formed with a single £1 ordinary share. It is legal, it is free, and it is the decision people most often come back to fix. The problem with one share You cannot give someone 10% of one share. To bring in a co-founder, an investor or an employee, you have to issue more shares or subdivide the one you have — both of which mean resolutions, filings, and a conversation about valuation you were not planning to have that week. What to do instead Issue 100 shares of £0.01, or 1,000 of £0.001. Your total share capital is still £1. Your liability is unchanged. But now you can transfer or issue 1%, 10% or 25% without any restructuring at all. Nominal value is not worth The nominal value is the face value — what a shareholder owes the company if the share is unpaid. It is not what the share is worth. A company with 100 penny shares can be worth a million pounds; the nominal value stays £1 in total. Should the shares be paid or unpaid? Shares can be issued unpaid, in which case the shareholder owes the company that amount. It is a real debt, and it appears on the public statement of capital, which lenders and buyers do read. Paying a pound at formation avoids explaining it later. One class or several? One class of ordinary shares is right for most new companies. Multiple classes let you pay different dividends to different holders, or give someone economics without voting control — useful, and worth doing deliberately with advice rather than by accident on a form. What actually needs deciding How many shares in total, at what nominal value Who holds what, and whether that reflects what people are actually contributing Whether anyone crosses 25%, which makes them a person with significant control Whether you need more than one class What happens if a shareholder leaves — which is a shareholders' agreement question, not a formation one None of this costs more at formation. All of it costs money to fix afterwards. ### Sole trader or limited company: which should you be? (https://registeracompanyintheuk.com/advice/sole-trader-or-limited-company) Published 2026-08-02. The differences that actually matter — liability, tax, credibility and paperwork — and the point at which incorporating usually starts to pay. A sole trader is the business. A limited company is a separate legal person that you own. Almost every practical difference follows from that one distinction. Liability As a sole trader, the business's debts are your debts. If it fails owing money, creditors can pursue your personal assets. In a limited company, liability is limited to what is unpaid on your shares. The limit is real, but it is not absolute. A director who signs a personal guarantee to a bank or a landlord is personally liable on that guarantee, and a director who trades on while knowingly insolvent can face personal consequences. Limited liability protects you from ordinary trading debts, not from promises you made yourself. Tax A sole trader pays income tax and National Insurance on profits, whether or not the money is taken out. A company pays corporation tax on its profits, and you are then taxed separately on what you take — as salary, as dividends, or as a loan. That separation is what makes incorporation efficient at some profit levels and pointless at others. It depends on your numbers, your other income and the current rates. Anyone who gives you a single threshold as a rule of thumb is guessing. Paperwork Being a sole trader means a self assessment return. A company means annual accounts to Companies House and HMRC, a corporation tax return, a confirmation statement every year, and filings whenever officers or shares change. It is more work, permanently, whether or not the company trades. Privacy A sole trader's home address is not published anywhere by default. A company director's address is — unless a service address is used. This surprises people, and it is the single most common regret we hear about a formation done cheaply. Credibility and access Some customers will only contract with limited companies. Some sectors expect it. It also gives you a company number, which makes credit checks, insurance and larger contracts easier. That is a real advantage and it has nothing to do with tax. When incorporating usually makes sense Profits are consistently above the level where the tax difference outweighs the extra admin — ask an accountant to run your actual figures. You want liability separated from your personal assets. Customers or a sector expect a limited company. You intend to bring in a co-owner or investor, which needs shares to exist. When it does not If you are testing an idea, earning modestly, and would rather not file accounts every year, staying a sole trader is a perfectly reasonable answer. You can incorporate later — it is a new legal person, so contracts, bank accounts and registrations move across, but it is entirely doable. ## Trading disclosures Registered company name is a company registered in England & Wales, number 00000000. VAT number GB 000 0000 00. Supervised for anti-money-laundering by AML supervisory body, registration number 000000. Companies House authorised corporate service provider reference pending. This company is not Companies House and is not affiliated with it. Nothing on this site is legal, tax or investment advice.