Company formation checklist

The company’s name

Once you have decided upon the name you would like to use for your company, simply visit our homepage , enter the company name into the name check portal and we will confirm whether it is available to use or not. As this facility is free, you can try as many variations of a name or a completely new name as many times as you like until you decide on the one you would like to use.

All companies that are limited by shares or by guarantee must feature the word ‘Limited’ in their name (abbreviated to Ltd) and in Wales the equivalent ‘Cyfynfedig’ (abbreviated to Cyf) should be used.

Every company name has to be approved by Companies House and if the name contains a sensitive name or phrase then supporting documentation to justify its use will be required, details of which we will supply when you place an order for our company formation service. There may be an additional administration fee for the extra work involved in this process.

Likewise, a company name may not be approved if it is too similar to any existing one, implies a connection to the UK government or contains certain non-standard characters such as symbols and abbreviations.

The company’s registered office

In the UK, every company is by law required to have a registered office address which must be a physical address rather than, for example, a PO Box or similarly non-locatable building. This is the address to which statutory documents and official correspondence will be sent by government departments as well as where other parties such as banks, shareholders, customers, suppliers and the general public will send correspondence to.

The company’s SIC code

An SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) is used by Companies House to classify the nature of a company’s business. Although 121 Company Formation will suggest the most appropriate code, you may like to browse the various categories to find the code that best suits your company.

Shares and shareholders

Each limited company must have at least one shareholder but it is permitted to have as many as it wishes although, in the case of many smaller companies, one shareholder will hold 100% of the issued share capital which can be as little as one share in this instance.

For a wider distribution of the share capital, and therefore the ownership of a company, more shares can be issued and allocated to as many different shareholders as required. In these circumstances, the issue of 100 shares for distribution would generally suffice unless a large financial investment is made into the company which would require the issue of more share capital.

Once you have decided how many shares will be issued and who the shareholder/s of your company will be, we will require the following information:

•   The number of shares of each type the company will have and their total value (the company’s share capital)
•   The name and address of each shareholder

It is important that all shareholders are aware that, should the company fail, they will each be responsible for any outstanding amount due on all unpaid shares. In that respect, when the company is formed, it is wise not to allot a high number of unpaid shares unless you are confident that these will be paid for, i.e. by way of an investment in the company.

Shareholders and the number of shares can be changed at any time following incorporation, including the issue of new shares.

Persons with significant control (PSC)

More often than not the person with significant control of a company is a director or shareholder for whom the following details will be required:
 

•   Full name
•   Date of birth
•   Place of birth (nationality)
•   Occupation (although ‘Director’ will suffice)
•   Residential address
•   Service/correspondence address if different
•   Number and class of shares held
•   The reason why they are considered to be a person with significant control
•   Acknowledgement that they confirm themselves to be a person with significant control

Instead of being an individual a PSC can be a corporate entity in which case we will require the following details:
 

•   The registered corporate name, number and address
•   The number and class of shares the PSC will hold and any amount paid for these
•   Details of the authorised signatory
•   If the corporate director is a non-EAA company, details of its legal form and by which country’s law it is governed

Company directors

A limited company must have at least one director who can be either an individual or a corporate entity and, in the case of an individual, they must:
 

•   Be over 16 years of age
•   Not have a criminal record
•   Not been declared insolvent or faced bankruptcy proceedings
•   Not appear on the disqualified directors register at Companies House
•   Not also act as the company’s auditor

There are no restrictions as to how many directors a company can have. New directors can be appointed at any time

Certain information is required is required for each director:
 

•   Full name
•   Date of birth
•   Place of birth (nationality)
•   Occupation (although ‘Director’ will suffice)
•   Residential address
•   Service/correspondence address if different
•   Date of appointment as a director

If the director is to be a corporate entity then the following information is required:
 

•   The registered corporate name, number and address
•   The number of shares the corporate director will hold and any amount paid for these
•   Details of the authorised signatory
•   If the corporate director is a non-EEA company, details of its legal form and by which country’s law it is governed