IN01 Application to Register a Company

Trading through a Company has many advantages over running a business as a sole trader or through a partnership, such as making it easier to attract investment. Most importantly, in a limited liability company the members (or shareholders) do not share in the liability of the company. This means that if the company incurs debts or is sued, the shareholders are protected from this.

The majority of companies trading in the UK are private companies limited by shares. The requirements which must be satisfied in order to form a company of this type are very light (for example, it must have at least one director who is a natural person (as opposed to another company) and a share capital of £1).

Companies House is the government agency which is responsible for incorporating new companies, monitoring the compliance of companies with regulatory and accounting requirements, and dissolving companies which are defunct.

A company is incorporated by completing this application form and sending it to Companies House, together with n application fee (£20 at the time of writing) and a copy of the proposed company’s Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association (the two documents which make up the company’s constitution).