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By miguel-ingles
- In Uncategorized
Most companies that entrepreneurs form in the British country must sign up in the trade register of the corresponding region. This is not a complex process, but directors must take into consideration certain things to make it unfold with no complication. In this article, I explain how to register a business with Companies House.
What is the Companies House?
The Companies House is an executive agency of the UK government that performs business registration functions within the country. Its main objective is to improve the transparency and accountability of registered corporations. It ensures that businesses present their statutory accounts. This group includes annual accounts, business reports and other documents.
Beyond this goal, Companies House also offers other services. For example, it gives access to company data, facilitates the submission of documents or provides advice on how to establish and manage enterprises.
The Companies House has offices in the various jurisdictions of the UK. Each one seeks to maintain the legal and administrative requirements and procedures in force in each region.
- England and Wales. It has its offices in Cardiff. It controls that companies established in either of these two zones comply with current business laws.
- The headquarters are in Edinburgh, and it ensures that businesses respect the Scotland’s specific company rules.
- Northern Ireland. With office in Belfast, it ensures that businesses established in this region comply with national and regional laws.
Steps to Register a Business with Companies House
1. What Businesses Have to Register with Companies House?
Defining the legal structure is the first step in the process of creating a company. Each one has a number of characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of its own and the choice of one or another will depend on the business activity that the business will perform or the number of employees.
Likewise, directors should bear in mind that not all types of corporations should be registered with the Companies House. This is the case of sole traders and partnerships, which lack legal personality. On the other hand, companies such as private and public limited companies or limited liability partnership legal structures must sign up.
2. Designating the Director and Shareholders of the Company
Any enterprise that registers with Companies House must have one director or designated partner (in the case of limited liability companies, they require at least two). Directors have additional responsibilities, particularly in financial and reporting matters. These managers must reside in the UK.
On the other hand, companies with limited liability must specify who are their shareholders and the number of shares that each one holds.
3. Drafting of the Memorandum and Articles of Association
To complete the registration process, a company must write their Memorandum and Articles of Association. The first document is a joint statement of all shareholders where they agree to form the business. In the second, it shows the rules of business management that the shareholders and directors have agreed.
Moreover, the corporation must store the data of directors and shareholders, the decisions of the Shareholders’ Meetings, the purchase and sale of shares or debts.
Other Considerations to Assess when Registering a Business with Companies House
Firstly, you should consider certain rules in force when choosing the name of the company. It must not include vulgar or offensive words, may not suggest a connection to a public institution, nor should it contain similarities to business denominations already registered with Companies House. On this website, you can check these rules.
Secondly, the main headquarters of the company must be in British territory.
Finally, you can complete the registration process both online and by mail. The internet option will cost 50 GBP and that for messaging, 71 GBP. In addition, while the digital process can be finished in less than 24 hours, the physical process can be extended up to 10 days.
In ukstartcompany, you will find information about how to establish, register and operate companies with different legal structures and business activities in the UK.