UK Limited Company Formation & Registration of Offshore Companies incorporation service with Online new company

A company is recognised in law as a legal entity, separate from the person or persons who formed the company and/or the directors and shareholders i.e. it has a separate legal existence.

COMPANY4LESS can help you in forming a Private Company Limited by Shares. In this business structure, a Member's liability is limited to their capital contribution in the company.

A private UK limited company (limited by shares) is considered as one of the most easily managed and cost effective business structures. Some of its outstanding features are:

No minimum or maximum share capital requirements.
No specific qualification requirement for company director, secretary or shareholder.
No nationality or residence restrictions for company director, secretary or shareholder.
A private limited company can just have one director who may also be the only share holder.
A private limited company's resources can be used to assist in the purchase of shares of the company when someone wishes to leave the company.
A private company is prohibited to issue its shares to the public.
Private companies up to a certain size can be permitted to file abbreviated accounts with the register of companies.
Only a private limited company can dispense with obligations to hold an annual general meeting
Only a private limited company can dispense with the formalities of holding general meetings by having a special resolution in writing
A private limited company can start trading immediately upon incorporation. It does not require any trading certificate to start its business.

A private limited company has a separate legal existence. This means that properties will be owned by the company itself and all contracts would be signed on its behalf. The directors and secretary can only act as agents. Therefore the company is not dissolved on the resignation, bankruptcy or death of a director. The company can be dissolved only by winding up, liquidation or order of the Registrar of Companies or by the Court.
Limited liability is another advantage of a private limited company. The shareholder's liability is limited to the value of the shares held by them should things go wrong. The personal assets of a shareholder cannot be used to pay off the debts.
Incorporation as a limited company will protect the selected company name. Once incorporated, it is listed in the register of companies maintained by Companies House. Therefore no one else can incorporate using this name.
Tax benefits are also applicable. The directors of the company are required to pay income tax but the company pays corporation tax on company profits which is one rate of tax only and averages out at much less than if income tax were paid on the profits.
A private limited company has strong and structured procedure to resolve any disputes between the shareholders of the company.
It is easy to transfer interest in business through ownership of shares.
A private limited company also offers improved national insurance benefits.

There are strict legal requirements under the Companies Act to file annual accounts and annul returns.
All the company information is publicly disclosed through Companies House.
Directors of the company have to comply with legal standards of care in conducting business.
Higher national insurance costs are involved.
Because of limited liability, the directors or members of a private limited company may have to give personal guarantees to banks, lenders or landlords.

According to the Companies Act 1985 and subsequent legislation, a private limited company can be formed for any lawful reason by one or more persons with one subscriber to the Memorandum of Association.

Incorporation of a company is a procedure by which the company is registered at Companies House and becomes a legal entity separate from is owners. This process is commonly known as registration, incorporation or formation.

COMPANY4LESS , an approved registrar, has completely automated the company incorporation procedure. You can form your company online with no hard copy documents to sign. All you need to do in fill in COMPANY4LESS online application form which asks you for all the required information and company details.

Using COMPANY4LESS ' electronic company formation services, the entire company formation procedure is completed within 3 to 4 days, unless you have opted for COMPANY4LESS "Express Formation" service. This service would cost you £25.00(extra) and would normally form your company within 8 working hours (9am to 5 pm GMT).

COMPANY4LESS ' standard company formation package would cost you £50.00 unless you opt for any of COMPANY4LESS ' additional services. This cost includes the following:

Following requirements are to be fulfilled to form a private limited company in the UK:

Using COMPANY4LESS ' company formation services, the only hard copy document you will receive is your Certificate of Incorporation. The rest of the company documentation is available online in a PDF format. You can login to your account using your customer ID and password and can access these documents online. These documents include the following:

Applications and Allotments
Register of Transfers
Particulars of Mortgage or Charge
Register of Debentures
Register of Members And Share Ledger
Register of Directors
Register of Secretaries
Register of Directors Interests
Minutes
Share Certificates
Memorandum of Association
Articles- Table A

It is the official address of a company to which all the company related correspondence is sent e.g. Companies House letters and reminders, Inland Revenue returns and other notifications etc.
It has to be a valid postal address anywhere in the UK i.e. England, Scotland or Wales. Any change of a company's registered office address must be approved by the directors and notified to Companies House using Form 287.

Yes, provided the full address is given, including the postcode, and it is validated by the Royal Mail.

All private limited companies must have at least one director. A director can also be the shareholder of a company. Usually the members (shareholders) of a company select the board of directors. Following are the restrictions which are applicable on the appointment of a director:

A director must not have been disqualified by a court from acting as a company director, unless s/he is permitted to act as one for a specific company
The director must not be an undischarged bankrupt, except for leave of the court
Must be between the age of 16 and 70 unless approved in a general meeting of the company.

There are no nationality or residence restrictions for company directors.
Directors are appointed to manage company's affairs in accordance with the Articles of Association and the law.
Unless it is specified in the Articles of Association of a company, there is no restriction for the maximum number of directors.

For a private limited company's secretary, there are no specific qualification requirements. Neither there are any nationality or residence restrictions for company secretary. Therefore any one who is responsible enough to look after company's affairs can be the company secretary.

Yes, according to the section 283 of the Companies Act, every private limited company must have a company secretary. It also states that if a company has only 1 director, he cannot act both as a director and a secretary. Therefore a person independent of the sole director must be appointed as the company secretary

The Companies Act grants no special rights to the company secretary. These rights depend on the clauses in the employment contract / agreement.

According to the section 744 of the Companies Act, the secretary is an officer of the company and has the following responsibilities

Keeping minutes of board and shareholders' meetings.
Timely delivery of statutory forms and shareholders' resolutions to Companies House.
Giving notice of shareholders' meetings.
Registration of share transfer.
Maintenance of statutory documents and company records.
Providing members and auditors with 21days notice of annual general meeting, and 14 days notice of a meeting other than AGM or to pass any resolution.

A private limited company can not be incorporated if you do not have a company secretary. However COMPANY4LESS can help you in this regard by providing a Nominee Secretary Service. This nominee secretary fulfills the legal requirements for company incorporation. This service would cost you £25.00 per annum.

As the nominee secretary is meant to fulfill statutory legal requirements, it does not perform any secretarial duties. However if you want to open a bank account, the secretary's signature is required on the bank mandate form. COMPANY4LESS can do that for you for an administration fee of £5.00.

CAN I CHOOSE ANY NAME I WANT FOR MY COMPANY?
It must be ensured that your selected company name is acceptable to Companies House, before you begin the incorporation procedure. Following restrictions are applicable on company's name:

For a complete list of sensitive names, please see the addendum.
If your company name is similar to another name, an objection can be raised against it within 12 months following your company incorporation. Consequently you may be directed by the Secretary of State to change the company name.

I HAVE REGISTERED A LIMITED COMPANY, CAN I OBJECT TO SOMEONE TRADING UNDER MY NAME?

These name disputes are usually taken to the court for decision. COMPANY4LESS would advise you to consult a solicitor in this regard

HOW DO I OBJECT TO THE REGISTRATION OF A COMPANY NAME THAT IS VERY SIMILAR TO MINE?

In order to raise an objection, you need to send a letter of complaint to the office of The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

CAN COMPANY4LESSFILE A NAME CHANGE APPLICATION ON MY BEHALF?
Yes, COMPANY4LESS can file a name change application on your behalf. It would cost you £25.00 and it normally takes a week to complete this process. You will receive a new Certificate of Incorporation as soon as your company's name is changed.

Share capital is the investment in a company by its members (owners). The amount is contributed in exchange for the share of ownership, a certificate being issued for each share.
When a company is established, the people who form the company decide that the member's liability is limited to their contributed share capital. The Memorandum of Association for a company states the following things in this regard:

Those people who have agreed to take some or all of the company shares are called "Subscribers"

Authorised share capital is the maximum value of shares that can be distributed to existing or potential investors. In other words, the amount of share capital stated in the Memorandum of Association is the company's 'authorised' share capital. The company's authorised share capital may also be called its 'nominal' share capital.

There is no minimum or maximum share capital requirement for a private limited company.

Yes, a company can alter its authorised share capital.
In order to increase the authorised share capital, an ordinary resolution needs to be passed. A copy of this resolution and a notice of increase on Form 123 must be sent to Companies House within 15 days of being passed.
Similarly, company's authorised share capital can be decreased by passing an ordinary resolution to cancel all those shares which have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person. Notice of cancellation of shares on Form 122 must be sent to Companies House within one month of this change.

Issued capital is the value of the shares issued to shareholders. The amount of issued capital cannot exceed the amount of the authorised capital.
A private limited company is not required to issue all of its share capital at once.

A company may increase its issued capital by allotting more shares but only up to the maximum allowed by its authorised capital. Allotments must only be done under proper authority. However, a private company is normally restricted to issuing shares to its members, to staff and their families and to debenture holders. However, by private arrangement, the company may issue shares to anyone it chooses.

A company cannot normally reduce its issued capital as this is the personal property of the shareholders, not of the company. However, the following exceptions apply:

If a court order confirms a 'minute of reduction' following a special resolution of the company;
If shares are redeemed (bought back) in accordance with a redemption contract;
If the company's articles allow it to buy its own shares and this purchase is authorised by a special resolution. As a company cannot own its own shares, the shares are regarded as cancelled when the company buys them.

'Allotment' is the process by which people become members of a company. Once the subscribers agree to take shares on incorporation, these shares are regarded as 'allotted'.
Later, more people may become the members of the company and be allotted shares. However, the directors must not allot shares without the authority of the existing shareholders. This authority is either stated in the company's Articles of Association or is given to the directors by resolution passed at a general meeting of the company.

Using COMPANY4LESS ' services, you get a complete set of online company documents available in a PDF format. These company documents also include share certificates. You can print these share certificates and can use these to allot shares to any new shareholder.

The process for transferring shares to new or potential investors is simple. The existing shareholder has to fill out the relevant portion of the Stock Order Form and surrender the share certificates to the potential shareholder. The shares will officially be in the name of the new member once the stock exchange transaction clearing takes place.

Company directors are personally liable to inform Companies House about the management, activities and capital structure.
For companies with limited liability, this information will also include accounts.

All companies are required to maintain a proper record of incomes, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the business. A proper set of financial statements - profit and loss account, balance sheet, cash flow statements etc. are required, which are to be submitted to the Companies House annually.
Limited companies are required to file their annual financial statements and returns with the Companies House before the closing date. Any delays will give rise to penalties. The set of accounts include

a profit and loss account (income and expenditure account);
a balance sheet, signed by the director;
an auditors' report (this would apply to companies with turnover over £1m per annum)
a directors' report, signed by the company directors and secretary;
notes to the accounts;
Group accounts (where appropriate).

A company that has no significant financial transactions during a financial year is a dormant company. It means there are no entries in company's accounting records. The amount paid for shares when the company is first formed and a few costs that the company may incur in order to keep the company registered at Companies House do not count as significant accounting transactions.

Yes, dormant companies do need to submit accounts to Companies House. However since trading is not being carried out, these accounts are in an abbreviated form and do not carry too much detail.

No, all companies do not need to submit audited accounts. Auditing is mandatory only when a turnover threshold is reached i.e. when your company has a turnover of over £1 million per annum and a balance sheet value of over £1.4 million.
Companies falling below this threshold are considered small companies. They may submit abbreviated financial statements which do not require to be audited.

A company that qualifies as a small/dormant company may file abbreviated accounts consisting of:

An abbreviated version of the balance sheet together with abbreviated notes
A statement immediately above the signature[s] of the director[s] that they have relied upon the exemptions available to the company as a small-sized company.
A special auditor's report stating that the requirements for qualifying as a small-sized company have been met.
A copy of special auditor's report must be included in the full accounts issued to shareholders.

There is no requirement for a profit and loss account or a directors' report to be included in the abbreviated accounts.
A company that qualifies as a medium-sized company may file abbreviated accounts consisting of:

The full balance sheet together with notes and a statement immediately above the signature[s] of the director[s] that they have relied upon the exemptions available to the company as a medium-sized company.
A profit and loss account which can be abbreviated and does not need to disclose turnover.
A special auditor's report stating that the requirements for qualifying as medium-sized have been met. A copy of this statement must be included in the full accounts issued to shareholders. Director's report.

A company's first accounts must start on the day of incorporation. The first financial year must end on the 'accounting reference date' or a date up to seven days either side of this date. Subsequent accounts start on the day following the year-end date of the previous accounts. They end on the next 'accounting reference date' or a date up to seven days either side.

The accounting reference date is the date in each year to which accounts will be drawn up. The date depends on the date of incorporation as it is the last day of the month in which the anniversary of incorporation falls. For example, if your company is incorporated on 2nd July this year, the accounting reference date will be 31st July, and its first financial year must end on 31st July next year (or within seven days of that date).

Yes. You may change it by sending Form 225 to the registrar. You must do this during the accounting period affected by the change or during the period allowed for delivering the associated accounts to the Companies House

A late filing of accounts is penalized depending on the delay and the company status. The current penalties applicable are:

Yes, Companies House delivers several letters annually to companies and concerned officials. These letters include different notifications for submission of various documents and other company related information.
Directors of a company are responsible to maintain this correspondence and they should be aware of the appropriate due dates for different events.
Please make sure that Companies House has your correct registered office address. All the correspondence from Companies House, Inland Revenue and other government departments is received at this registered office address.

An annual return contains certain company information up to the made-up date. It is separate from a company's annual accounts. An annual return must contain the following information:

The name of the company;
Its registered number;
The type of company it is, for example, private or public;
The registered office address of the company;
The address where certain company registers are kept if not at the registered office;
The principal business activities of the company;
The name and address of the company secretary;
The name, usual residential address, date of birth, nationality and business occupation of all the company's directors;
The date to which the annual return is made-up (the made-up date).

This is the date at which all the information in an annual return must be correct. The made-up date is usually the anniversary of:

All annual returns must be delivered to Companies House within 28 days of the made-up date given on the form.

COMPANY4LESS is able to assist its customers in their accounting matters. COMPANY4LESS Accounting Services Package would cost you £300.00 for the first financial year. From 2nd year onwards the cost depends on the annual turnover. It includes the following services.

Preparation of annual accounts, i.e. Profit & Loss Account and Balance Sheet.
Filing of annual statutory accounts with Companies House.
Filing of Corporation Tax Return (CT600) form with the Inland Revenue.
Taxation and Legal Advisory in dealing with Companies House and Inland Revenue.
Free Accounting Software

With every Annual Accountancy package ordered, COMPANY4LESS supplies you with a free copy of Infini Accounts Pro software to manage your business transactions electronically. In addition, COMPANY4LESS also provides a review service for the accounts that you maintain on Infini Accounts Pro, giving you the assurance that your accounts are appropriately maintained.

A company must display its name in legible lettering on the following documents:

All the company's business letters
All notices and other financial publications
All bills of exchange, promissory notes, endorsements, cheques and orders for money or goods purporting to be signed by, or on behalf of, the company.
All bills of parcels, invoices, receipts and letters of credit.

Yes, a company must display the following details on all its business letters and order forms:

Company's registration number and place of registration. the place of registration can be one of the following:

For companies registered in England and Wales:

Registered in Cardiff

Registered in England and Wales

Registered in England

Registered in London

Registered in Wales

Company's registered office address. If a business letter or order form displays more than one address, it is recommended to state which is the registered office address

A company is not required to display its directors' names on its business letters. However, if a company chooses to do, it must state the names of all its directors i.e. it must show all of them or none of them.

Yes, COMPANY4LESS can certainly help you in designing your company stationery. You can purchase COMPANY4LESS graphics package which would cost you £100.00 and it includes the following:

You can also give your own specifications for stationery design. If you wish to proceed, please visit www.graphics4less.com .

No, VAT registration is not mandatory for all private limited companies. A company needs to register for VAT only if it expects its turnover to reach the VAT threshold.
However, you may also register voluntarily, even though your taxable turnover has not reached the VAT threshold. There are certain advantages for registering with the Customs and Excise, such as:

Yes, COMPANY4LESS can certainly help you in getting your company VAT registration. it would cost you £50.00and it usually takes approx six weeks to complete the registration process.
Once the registration process is complete, you will be advised of your VAT number directly by the VAT unit.

No, it is not mandatory for a company to open a business bank account. However, if you want to start trading you need a bank account for all your financial transactions.

Yes, COMPANY4LESS does provide an account opening service for business customers. The fee for this service is £500.00 and takes approx 10 days to complete in most cases.

If you have a poor credit history or have County Court Judgments registered against you it is significantly more difficult to get a business bank account opened. However, COMPANY4LESS may still be able to open a business account for you. An application for this service will be looked at on an individual basis.

You need to purchase COMPANY4LESS ' Web Hosting Service to use the free domain name.

COMPANY4LESS ' Web Hosting Service would cost you £50.00 per annum. It includes the following:

I HAVE NOT PURCHASED THE WEB HOSTING SERVICE WHEN I SIGNED UP, HOW CAN I SIGN UP FOR IT LATER?

Just send us an email with the Company name, domain name and Customer ID of your account and COMPANY4LESS will set up the Web Hosting for you.

CAN I TRANSFER THE FREE DOMAIN NAME WHICH YOU HAVE REGISTERED FOR ME, FROM YOUR SERVER TO ANOTHER WEB HOSTING COMPANY OF MY CHOICE? WILL I HAVE TO PAY ANY TRANSFER FEES FOR THAT?

Yes you can transfer your domain name to any other Web Hosting company of your choice, by sending us their IPS TAG and COMPANY4LESS will release the IPS TAG for them. No. you DO NOT have to pay transfer or any other fees for this.

HOW CAN I CREATE MORE POP EMAIL ACCOUNTS OTHER THAN 'INFO' ACCOUNT YOU HAVE PROVIDED?

Using COMPANY4LESS ' online company registration services, it usually takes 3 to 4 days to complete the incorporation procedure. However, if you wish COMPANY4LESS can get your company registered at Companies House within 8 working hours (9am to 5 pm GMT). This service is called Express Formation and it would cost you £25.00 extra.

Registered office address is a mandatory requirement to establish a UK Limited company. A registered address is a valid postal address within the UK i.e. England, Scotland or Wales.
COMPANY4LESS is able to provide you with registered address service at a cost of £25.00 per annum. This address is used only to receive mails coming from Companies House not from customers or other trading parties.
If you use COMPANY4LESS ' registered address service independent of company formation services, it would cost you £50.00

Company secretary is also a mandatory requirement to establish a UK Limited company.
COMPANY4LESS is able to provide you with a Nominee Secretary Service at a cost of £25.00. This nominee secretary is only meant to fulfill the legal requirements and does not perform any secretarial duties.

COMPANY4LESS can get your company incorporated using your own customized Articles and Memorandum of Association. It would cost you £25.00 extra.
As these customized articles and memorandum require special processing, it takes a week to complete the incorporation procedure.

COMPANY4LESS is able to get your company VAT registered at a cost of £50.00. It usually takes approx six weeks to complete the registration procedure.

COMPANY4LESS is able to open a business bank account for your company at a cost of £500.00. It usually takes 10 days to complete this process.

COMPANY4LESS ' Accountancy Package would cost you £300.00 for the first financial year. From 2nd year onwards the cost depends on the annual turnover. It includes the following services

Preparation of annual accounts, i.e. Profit & Loss Account and Balance Sheet.
Filing of annual statutory accounts with Companies House.
Filing of Corporation Tax Return (CT600) form with the Inland Revenue.
Taxation and Legal Advisory in dealing with Companies House and Inland Revenue.
Free Accounting Software

COMPANY4LESS also provides trademark registration service at a cost of £350.00. It usually takes six months to complete this process.

COMPANY4LESS provides copyright registration services at a cost of £150.00. It usually requires 6 months to complete this registration procedure.

COMPANY4LESS is able to provide you with an Apostille at a cost of £150.00. It usually takes 5 days to prepare the Apostille.

COMPANY4LESS is able to file a name change application on your behalf. It would cost you £25.00 and it usually takes 10 days to complete this procedure.

COMPANY4LESS can help you in changing your company status to dormant. It would cost you £75.00. You need to send us your company name and registration number for this purpose. It takes approx. 10 days to complete this procedure.

COMPANY4LESS can get your business SIC registered at a cost of £10.00. It takes approx. 3 days to do this.

COMPANY4LESS is able to provide you with a Certificate of Good standing at a cost of £50.00. It takes approx. 8 days to get this certificate ready for you.

COMPANY4LESS can provide you with a general power of attorney at a cost of £ 25.00 and it takes only 1 day to get it ready for you.

COMPANY4LESS can prepare notarized minutes of meeting for you at a cost of £25.00. COMPANY4LESS can get these ready for you within 24 hours.

Cheque:

All cheques must be made payable to Accounts Centre International Ltd. These cheques are to be sent to the following address:

COMPANY4LESS
29 Harley Street
London W1G 9QR

Draft:

All drafts are to be made payable to Accounts Centre International Ltd. and to be sent to the following address:

COMPANY4LESS
29 Harley Street
London W1G 9QR

Bank Transfer:

COMPANY4LESS bank details for bank / wire transfer are:

Acct Name: Accounts Centre International Ltd.
Bank: Royal Bank of Scotland
Branch: London Cavendish Square Branch, 28 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0DB
Acct No: 10154374
Sort Code: 16-00-30
Swift: RBOSGB21120
IBAN Number: GB47RBOS16003010154374

Credit Card:

In case of credit card, following information is required to process the payment:

Card Type: e.g. Master, Visa, American Express etc.
Card Number
Cardholders Name
Address where the card is registered
Expiry Date
CCV Code: the last three digits from the code written on the backside of the card

Debit Card:

In case of Debit Card, following information is required to process the payment:

Card Type:
Card Number
Cardholders Name
Address where the card is registered
Valid From
Expiry Date
CCV Code: the last three digits from the code written on the backside of the card

Solo / Switch:

Following information is required:

Card Number
Cardholders Name
Address where the card is registered
Valid From
Expiry Date
CCV Code: the last three digits from the code written on the backside of the card