COMPANY LAW

Company Law



Company Law

(a)

Any individual of any nationality may register a limited company as long as they are not an un-discharged bankrupt, they have not been restrained by court order and they are not subject to UK government restrictions. All limited company registrations must be submitted to Companies House. To undertake a limited company registration you'll need:

A company name. It is possible to register almost any name providing it hasn't been previously registered by another company and it isn't misleading or offensive.

At least one individual who will serve as a company Director.

One individual who will act as Company Secretary, if one is required. If you choose not to appoint a named company secretary the functions undertaken by a company secretary still need to be carried out by someone.

At least one person who is willing to become a Shareholder. They can do this by buying a single £1 share in the company (this person could be the director or the company secretary).

A registered office address. This is the official address where all statutory documents from Companies House will be sent. This address will appear on the public records and must be a full UK postal address; PO Box numbers will not be accepted.

You can set up and register your new limited company directly with Companies House but it is often easier to use one of the many online company formation companies, such as Quick Formations to register a company. These company formation companies provide standardised limited company documents that will be sufficient for most company formations. The key documents you need to set up a limited company (these will be provided by the company formation company if you use one) are:

The Certificate of Incorporation. This is the official certificate issued by the registrar on successful incorporation of a limited company. The certificate states your company registration number, company name and date of incorporation.

The Memorandum of Association, which defines what the company will do, the company name and registered office address, and contains statements referring to limited liability, authorised share capital and share price.

The Articles of Association, which defines how the shareholders and officers will run the company.

(b)

There are many laws, rules and regulations that affect businesses trading in the UK - some are general and some are specific to particular business sectors, such as financial services, legal services, food, gambling and telecommunications (De Freitas, 2009, 51). You should check to see if there are any specific regulations that affect your business. In general, the law is more relaxed if you sell to businesses than if you sell to consumers. Some things to bear in mind are as follows:

Although it is not a requirement, you are strongly advised to have some standard Trading Terms and Conditions (“Ts & Cs”) drafted by a solicitor and take advice as to how to ensure that you are trading in accordance with them. Do not rely on ones that work in your country: they might have a completely different effect under English law ...