Your company formation checklist for UK Businesses

Forming a company is no longer a time consuming or complicated task. At Inform Direct, we’ve streamlined company formation, creating a simple step by step online process that allows you to enter all your company details very quickly. And there’s no paperwork to complete! We electronically submit your application to Companies House and they approve most formation requests within 48 hours. You could also consider using the same day incorporation service which, if submitted before 10.30 on a UK business day, will be processed that same day.

Inform Direct can form all the major types of company in the UK and provides an extensive range of optional add-ons, allowing you to customise your company formation so that it exactly meets your needs. We also stay up to date on all ECCT Act 2024 changes that affects incorporations.

Before you can begin your company formation you must choose a company name. If you are forming a limited by shares company, decide whether to end the name with ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’. You can check whether your chosen company name is available using our company name search tool.

The registered office address is the official address of the company. Government bodies like Companies House and HMRC send official correspondence to this address, and it is visible on the public register.

A company’s registered office address must be in the same part of the UK in which the company is registered. For example, a company registered in England and Wales cannot have a registered office address in Scotland.

You must provide full address details including postcode.

For a variety of reasons, some companies choose to purchase a business address service, and this is just one of many optional add-ons that our company formation service provides.

Additionally, from March 2024, companies must provide a registered email address at incorporation. Existing companies must update this in their next confirmation statement. Companies House will use the registered email address to communicate about the company. For example, sending reminders, queries or to challenge public record information.

A limited company must have at least one irredeemable (non-redeemable) share class, generally ordinary shares. At least one irredeemable share must be issued at the time of incorporation. 

While many companies only have one class of ordinary shares, it’s increasingly common to have alphabet shares, such as ordinary A, ordinary B, etc.

Inform Direct supports companies with multiple share classes, which can be fully paid, fully unpaid or partly paid and share class currencies denominated in £ sterling, euros or US dollars.

You will need to provide details of the:

• Class description(s) – most companies are formed with ordinary shares.
• Nominal value of each share class – most companies are formed with share capital that has a nominal value of £1, but the nominal value can be set at as little as £0.000001 per share.
• Prescribed particulars  – these are the rights applying to each share class.

Your company must have at least one director who is an individual (not a corporate director) aged 16 or over.  For each individual director you need to provide:

• Full forename(s).
• Surname.
• Any other names used in the previous 20 years.
• Full service address including town, county and postcode (for the public record).
• Usual residential address (protected information which will not be displayed on the public record).
• Country of residence.
• Date of birth.
• Nationality.
• Business occupation – although you may enter “None” or “Retired” if this is appropriate.
• The number of shares, if any, the director is to have, and details of any consideration paid.
• Confirmation that the individual has consented to act as a director of the company. We’ve created a free template consent to act form that you can use for this purpose.

For each corporate director you need to provide:

• Corporate name and company registration number.
• Registered/principal office address (including postcode).
• Where the company is registered.
• Whether or not the director is a company registered in the United Kingdom at Companies House.
• For a non-UK registered company, details of the legal form of the corporate body and the law by which it is governed.
• The name of the individual authorised to act for the corporate director.
• The number of shares, if any, the corporate director is to have, and details of any consideration paid.
• Confirmation that the corporate body has consented to act as a director of the company. We’ve created a free template consent to act form for corporate directors that you can use for this purpose.

You are not required to appoint a secretary, but if you do, for each individual (non-corporate) company secretary you will need to provide the following details:

• Full forename(s).
• Surname.
• Any other names used in the previous 20 years.
• Full service address including town, county and postcode.
• The number of shares, if any, the secretary is to have, and details of any consideration paid.
• Confirmation that the individual has consented to act as an officer of the company. We’ve created a free template consent to act form that you can use for this purpose.

If another company is to act as secretary you will need to provide the following details:

• Corporate name and company registration number.
• Registered/principal office address (including postcode).
• Where the company is registered.
• Whether or not the corporate secretary is a company registered in the United Kingdom at Companies House.
• For a non-UK registered company, details of the legal form of the corporate body and the law by which it is governed.
• The number of shares, if any, the corporate company secretary is to have, and details of any consideration paid.
• Confirmation that the corporate body has consented to act as an officer of the company. We’ve created a free template consent to act form for corporate officers that you can use for this purpose.

PSCs are usually a director and/or subscriber, and so you will have already assembled most of the details you need to provide (such as name, address and shareholding details). In addition to these, you will also need to disclose:

• The PSC control reason(s) – this is the means by which the individual has control over the company. It is usually because the individual will hold more than 25% of the company’s shares and/or voting rights or has the power to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors.
• Confirmation that they have confirmed they are a PSC (if they are an individual).

If the company to be formed will have any Relevant Legal Entities (RLEs) or corporate PSCs, then you will also need to provide the following information for each:

• Full name.
• Registered number (if the RLE/PSC has one).
• Registered office address for the RLE, or if no registered office, it’s principal place of business.
• Country where the RLE/PSC is registered.

If the RLE/corporate PSC is a company not registered in the United Kingdom, you will also need to provide the following details:

• The legal form of the RLE/PSC.
• The law that the RLE/PSC is governed by.
• The register that the RLE/PSC is included on.
• The name of the individual authorised to act for the RLE/PSC.

In order to file documents electronically Companies House will require an electronic signature for each subscriber only.  This signature consists of answers to any 3 of the following security questions:

• Town of birth (first 3 letters required).
• Telephone number (last 3 digits required).
• National insurance number (last 3 digits required).
• Mother’s maiden name (first 3 letters required).
• Father’s first name (first 3 letters required).
• Passport number (last 3 digits required).

The information will not appear anywhere on the public record.

At this point you are probably exhausted at the prospect of providing so many details! However, it is worth remembering that directors will also often be subscribers and possibly a PSC in the newly formed company. If you are using Inform Direct to form your new company, you will first be asked to select all the roles that each individual will serve (i.e. director, secretary, subscriber, PSC) and then you will be asked to fill in the details required for that combination of roles. Inform Direct will never ask you to complete the same details more than once for an individual.

Ready to form a company?

If you’re ready to register your company then you can start the process now. The first step is to check that your company name is available.

A previous version of this article was originally published on 12 July 2021.