Your Annual Return checklist – what you must provide

What do I include on my Companies House Annual Return (Form AR01)?

All companies must supply the following information on their Annual Return:

• The company registered name.
• The company registered number.
• The type of company – private or public.
• The company registered office address.
• If they are not kept at the registered office address, the address where certain company registers are kept (also known as a single alternative inspection location).
• The principal business activities of the company – there is a full list of trade classification codes (SIC codes) on the Companies House website.  A new version of these codes (SIC 2007) was released in 2008 and all Annual Returns with a return date on or after 1 October 2011 should use these codes.
• The name and address of the company secretary (if your company has appointed one).
• Prescribed details for all directors – including their name, any former name, service address, date of birth, nationality and business occupation.
• The date to which the Annual Return has been made up.

There are additional disclosure requirements if the company has shares.

Statement of capital (Form AR01 Part 3)

Every company with shares must include a statement of capital with their Annual Return.

This includes:

• The total number of shares issued for each class of share as at the return date.
• The amount paid up (nominal value plus any share premium) and the unpaid amount (if any) on each share.
• The aggregate nominal value of the shares issued for each share class. This is simply the number of shares in issue multiplied by the nominal value of each share.
• The total number of shares issued for all share classes.
• The total aggregate nominal value for all share classes.
• Details of the prescribed particulars for each class of share.

Details of shareholders (Form AR01 Part 4)

There are different disclosure requirements relating to shareholders for traded companies and non-traded companies.  A non-traded company for Annual Return purposes is defined by Companies House as ‘a company, none of whose shares are shares admitted to trading on a regulated market’.

List of past and present shareholders for a private or non-traded company

You must provide a list of all shareholders as at the made-up to date, as well as any that ceased to be shareholders during the Annual Return period.  This is known as the ‘full list’ and it must be provided on:

• the company’s first Annual Return after incorporation;
• every third Annual Return after a full list has been provided.

If a ‘full list’ is not required, then you need only provide details of changes to any shareholder particulars, including share allotments and share transfers during the Annual Return period.

List of past and present shareholders for a traded company

Traded companies must provide the names and addresses of any shareholders who hold 5% or more of the company’s issued share capital as at the made up date of the return.  You must provide this ‘full list’ on:

• the company’s first Annual Return after incorporation;
• every third Annual Return after a full list has been provided.

If a full list is not required, then you need only provide details of changes to any shareholder particulars (name and address) and details of share allotments and transfers during the period.