Guides on Limited Companies, Sole Traders and Partnerships

Company law determines how many officials must be appointed to run private and public companies in the UK.
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Every limited company in the UK has to submit an Annual Return to Companies House, usually on the anniversary of incorporation. Via Form AR01, the Registrar of Companies captures a current information about the company itself, its officials, and the breakdown of share capital.
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It is a requirement of the Companies Act 2006 that all companies keep up to date statutory registers. These must be kept at the registered office of the company (or other place notified to Companies House).
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In order to be appointed as a limited company director, you must be over 16 years old, and not be bankrupt, or disqualified from acting as a director by the courts – unless in certain circumstances.
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If you are thinking of setting up a limited company some time in the future, is there a way of ‘reserving’ a specific company name, without having to take on the obligations of running a live company?
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When you register a company name, your name is not automatically protected by trade mark law. Similarly, if you have a trademarked brand name, you may not necessarily be able to register the brand as a limited company name. So what are trade marks, and how can you protect your company name?
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Choosing a company name is an important task when setting up a new venture. Your name will help define the image of your business, so you should take some time out to get it right first time.
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All limited companies are obliged to file accounting and other information with Companies House and HMRC each year. What happens if you deliver documents late, and how can you avoid penalties?
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In order to understand the reason for this, you need to understand the different types of rights that shares give their owners. Ordinary shares will generally have all of these rights but that doesn’t have to be the case and it’s this that gives rise to the benefit of different share classes.
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If you decide to start a new business as a limited company, you will need to choose an appropriate name. There are several important factors to bear in mind when thinking of possible names, including legal restrictions imposed by Companies House.
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A shareholders’ agreement is exactly what the name suggests; an agreement between the shareholders of a company.
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The Companies Act 2006 is the main piece of legislation which governs company law in the UK. It is the longest piece of legislation ever enacted in the UK, with over 1,300 sections. Following eight years of consultation, the final provisions of the Act became law in October 2009.
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The Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008 detail what types of information limited companies have to disclose on all types of communications – both paper-based and electronic.
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The Companies Act 2006 governs how limited companies should display their details when dealing with members of the public. So, do you have to display your company name at the company’s registered address?
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Thanks to the Companies Act 2006, and advances in web technology in recent years, it has never been easier (or cheaper) to set up a limited company. In fact, you can register a new company online via the Companies House Web Incorporation Service in around 10 minutes.
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Whether you’re setting up a public or private limited company, all companies are run by appointed officials who have a number of statutory obligations and responsibilities.
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Once you’ve submitted your company formation details to Companies House, and your application has been accepted, you will be sent a certificate of incorporation, which states your company name and other details.
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If you want to form a limited company, in addition to Form IN01 (application to register a company), you must also provide a copy of your company Memorandum and Articles of Association to Companies House.
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Companies House is the Registrar of Companies in the UK. It oversees the incorporation and dissolution of all incorporated business structures, and acts as a central repository for information relating to all limited companies.
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