• Company law basics
  • What is a limited company?
  • Types of companies
  • Limited liability
  • Does a business have to be a limited company?
  • Advantages and disadvantages of running a business as a company?
  • When must a company be registered for VAT?
  • What does it cost to set up a company?
  • What information must a company send to Companies House?
  • Introduction to articles
  • Registered office
  • Changing the registered office
  • Finding a company's registered office
  • Can a company do everything?
  • What are a company's objects?
  • Company seals
  • Companies House
  • Information required on company notepaper
  • Information required on websites, emails and faxes
  • Annual return
  • Company accounts
  • Incorporating an existing business
  • Ready made companies
  • Can a company be moved from one part of the United Kingdom to another?
• Companies legislation
  • Companies Legislation
  • Companies Act 2006 Introduction
  • Accounts, audit and annual returns SIs
  • Articles of Association SIs
  • Company charges SIs
  • Companies House SIs
  • Community Interest Companies SIs
  • Directors SIs
  • Company forms SIs
  • General meeting - shareholders' rights SIs
  • Minority protection SIs
  • Company and business names SIs
  • Overseas companies SIs
  • Political donations SIs
  • Share capital SIs
  • Statutory registers and other records SIs
  • Trading disclosures SIs
  • Companies Legislation before the Companies Act 2006
• Types of companies
  • Types of companies
  • Companies limited by guarantee
  • Community Interest Companies (CIC)
  • Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
  • Property management companies
  • Dormant companies
  • Converting a company from one type to another
• Registering a company
• Company and business names
  • Company names
  • Changing a company's name
  • Protecting a company's name
  • Passing off
  • Trade marks
  • Trade mark registration
  • Trade mark categories of goods and services
  • What does it cost to register a trade mark?
• Articles of association
  • Introduction to articles
  • Model Articles
  • Table A
  • Updating articles
  • What is a general commercial company?
• Directors
  • What is the difference between shareholders and directors?
  • Directors
  • Number of Directors
  • Appointment of Directors
  • Resignation of directors
  • Removal of a director from office
  • Who can be a director?
  • Directors' service addresses
  • Are directors entitled to be paid?
  • Directors as employees
  • Directors' powers
  • Directors' duties
  • Legal position of a managing director
  • Loans to directors
  • Conflicts of Interest
  • Company secretary
  • Board meetings
  • Appointing a chairman
  • Quorum at board meetings
• Shares
  • What is a statement of capital?
  • Shares - an introduction
  • Authorised capital
  • How many shares should a company have?
  • Classes of shares
  • Alphabet shares
  • Share certificates
  • Dividends
  • What voting rights do shares have?
  • How do people get shares in a company?
  • Issuing shares
  • Pre-emptive rights
  • Transferring shares
  • What happens if a shareholder dies?
  • How much must a company charge for its shares?
  • Issuing shares for consideration other than cash
  • Can a child own shares?
  • Can a company buy its own shares?
• Shareholders
  • What is the difference between shareholders and directors?
  • What rights does a shareholder have?
  • General meetings
  • Must a company hold general meetings?
  • Calling general meetings
  • Who is entitled to attend general meetings?
  • What is the difference between board meetings and general meetings?
  • Proxies
  • Minutes of members' and directors' decisions
  • Types of resolutions
  • Appointing a chairman
  • Quorum at general meetings
• Shareholders' agreements
• Statutory registers
• Company borrowing and debentures
  • Company borrowing
  • Debentures
  • Fixed and floating charges
  • Registering charges
• Partnerships
  • Partnerships SIs
  • Partnership Act 1890
• LLPs
  • Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)
  • Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) SIs

Registering a company

A company can be registered either electronically or by sending paper forms and documents to Companies House. Over 90% of new companies are registered electronically. Incorporation Services Limited provides an expert service for all your company formation and company law requirements.

Electronic registration
Registration using paper documents

Electronic registration
Electronic registration of companies can only be done by those who have an arrangement with Companies House to do so. The larger firms of commercial solicitors and company registration agents register their companies this way, and it is by far the quickest way of having a company registered. Incorporation Services Limited provides an expert electronic registration service.

The main information needed to register a company is the same whether the registration is done electronically or by traditional means. A copy of the company's articles of association must be provided. This document contains the company's constitution. Most companies have articles based on the Model Articles provided by the government as a specimen set of articles for the different types of company.

The information required for form IN01 is also required. This mainly comprises the address of the company's registered office and the details of the shareholders, directors and company secretary (if any) must also be given. This information is verified by providing certain so-called 'security information'. There are more details on the Incorporation Services Limited website.

The registration fee is £14 and the typical registration time is a few hours (unless there is a computer problem, which happens occasionally). The certificate is emailed to the registrant, and there are regulations about how it should be printed. A 'same day' service is available on payment of a £50 registration fee.

Companies House Web Incorporation Service
On 6th April 2011, Companies House launched a new web incorporation service in conjunction with the government's website for business, www.businesslink.gov.uk. The new service will allow customers to set up a simple private limited company, with model articles, for a statutory fee of £18. More details are available on the Companies House website.

Registration of paper documents
This is the traditional way of registering companies, but now only a minority of companies is registered this way. Community Interest Companies (and, indeed, LLPs) must be registered on paper.
The appropriate documents must be sent to Companies House in Cardiff (or, in the case of a Scottish Company, in Edinburgh), with the registration fee of £20.

The documents which must be filed are:
Memorandum of association (this is just a statement of the people forming the company)
Articles of association
Form IN10

Form IN01 requires many details of the proposed company including the address of the company's registered office and details of the first directors and secretary (if any) of the company.

In practice one of the main difficulties is selecting a name which is available for registration. There are over 2 million companies already registered and each has to have a different name. There are also rules about the acceptability of a company name. See related topic: What name may be used for a company.

On receipt of the application, Companies House will check that the name is acceptable and that the documents are in order. If so, a certificate of incorporation will be issued. This is the company's birth certificate. It states the exact name with which the company is registered, the date of incorporation and the company's registered number.

The company comes into existence on the date of incorporation and only from that date can it validly enter into contracts or undertake any legal activity. If any transaction is entered into in the company's name or on its behalf before the date of incorporation it is called a pre-incorporation contract. The company is not liable on the contract and the person who actually entered into it is personally liable for it. In other words, there can be no limited liability before the date of incorporation..

The time taken by Companies House to register a company in this way varies from time to time, but typically takes about a week. If it is necessary to have a company set up in less time than that, Companies House will deal with the registration on the day on which the papers are received if a registration fee of £50, rather than the standard fee of £20, is paid. This will apply only if the papers are in order and the company name does not involve any difficulties. Electronic registration is generally completed in a matter of hours and so the same day service for paper documents is for most purposes obsolete.

Ready made companies
In the past, an alternative method was to acquire a ready made company (also known as a 'shelf' company). This was one set up for the purposes of resale. The speed of electronic registration has made such companies obsolete.

Incorporation Services Limited provides an expert service for all your company formation and company law requirements.

Related topics

• What is a limited company?
• Types of companies
• Converting a company from one type to another
• Limited liability
• Does a business have to be a limited company?
• Advantages and disadvantages of running a business as a company?
• What does it cost to set up a company?
• What information must a company send to Companies House?
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• Company names
• Protecting a company's name
• Registered office
• Shares - an introduction
• Number of Directors
• What is the difference between shareholders and directors?
• Companies House