Company Formation and Registration

A Same Day UK Company Formation for just £24.99 including full Memorandum and Articles of Association and Official Companies House Certificate of Incorporation.

View the range of UK company incorporation packages that start at £24.99 for a full trading entity. Services include a complete set of printed documents, a company statutory company register and a registered office at London Regent Street.

Read the company formation guide that describes in plain English the comprehensive list of documents and other items you receive. This extensive catalogue of useful material is provided free with all UK company formation packages.

The informative "Getting Started" section outlines the simple five steps to successful company incorporation and provides an advanced preview of what actions visitors are required to perform. Of course, there is additional help at each stage of these five sections.

See why customers choose Complete Formations, read about their extensive experience, dedicated customer services resources and the value for money products. These distinct advantages often reassure customers that they are purchasing from a reputable and respected UK company formation agent.

For information on registering a company view our specially written section containing an extensive range of categorised articles, each of which detail various aspects of business incorporation. Some examples are choosing a company name, registered office and appointing and resigning a director, secretary or changing a shareholder.

The Company Shop offers a range of useful products and services for both new and existing businesses and includes everything from company seals, registers and nominee director and shareholder services. Many of the products on offer, if ordered in the morning, can be despatched on the same day as standard.

Where a person or group of people consider starting a small business, forming a UK limited company will probably be one of the options they view at as a means of achieving this.

Company formation is the term given to the process of incorporating a legal business entity and represents one of popular vehicles for conducting a trade in the UK.

There are essential two ways of registering a company; the first entails carrying out the activity online using an electronic formation system or alternatively, it can be completed by submitting a paper incorporation application directly to Companies House.

The vast majority of UK business registrations that are conducted today are carried out via the Internet. This is primarily due to the increased speed and accuracy that can be achieved by an online company set-up.

The electronic method requires that certain information be inputted on several Internet browser forms and has the advantage that controls can be built in to minimise the incidence of incorrect details being entered.

Choosing a Formation Package and Making Payment

The first part of the company formation process is usually that of choosing a name. There are several rules to be aware of that govern the type of names that can suitable used for a company. These essentially state that each must be both distinct and non-offensive.

Once the name is confirmed that it meets the required criteria, the website visitor then chooses one of the company registration packages being offered by the formation agent.

Payment for the incorporation package then usually follows using an online payment facility such as PayPay, Worldpay or a bank’s own merchant services.

Administration Stage

The second phase of forming a company is the administration, making appointments for directors and secretaries, stipulating the share capital and allotments and selecting suitable address for use of the registered office.

It is a legal requirement for a company to have at least one director (and post 6th April 2008, optional to appoint a secretary. In situations where there will be a secretary, there then needs to be at least two directors and a single person can not hold both offices and still remain the sole director.

In order for the company formation application to be successful, there must be a minimum of one share issued on incorporation of the business. They or it can be allocated to any person or other corporate entity, whether or not they will also be directors of the company.

Registering a UK company requires that the registered office address is situated in England, Scotland or Wales. Neither Northern nor Southern Ireland addresses are acceptable for a UK company registration.

Companies House Validation and Checking

Once all of the necessary appointments, allotments and addresses have been inputted, the application is then sent electronically to Companies House for validation.

On receipt of the company formation details, Companies House’s automated system then carries out various validations and checking procedures on the submitted data. These will include making sure that the required number of directors and secretaries are present and that their address details are residential and not business locations.

Other checks might typically include:

• That the registered office address in not outside of the permitted countries.
• That all named directors are over the age of sixteen.
• Confirmation that there is at least one share allocated.
• Validating all addresses provided via the Royal Mail postal code system.

In addition to the automated checking system, some company formation submissions are checked manually.

Company Registration Results

Depending on the time the application was submitted, after approximately four business hours, the results are sent back to the company formation agents.

In some business incorporation systems, the customer automatically receives a response from the registering agent as soon as Companies House sends back the results.

In situations where the company registration application has been successful, the customer now has a new company, complete with an official number.