A Guide to Setting Up a Company on Companies House

It’s exciting to set up your own company, but many SME owners worry about dealing with Companies House. The good news is that it’s fairly straightforward and there is lots of help along the way.

What is Companies House?

Companies House is the official UK company register. It’s there to provide public access to personal, company-specific, and financial information of registered businesses, making it a valuable tool for assessing the credibility of potential business partners, suppliers, and customers.

Pick a unique company name

You’ve probably thought of a name already, but what if someone else has already done it? Before you register your business, you need to check that the name is available. It’s easy to do as Companies House have a name availability checker, which is free to use here. Companies House also has a Trademark checker available to use here.

Decide on your registered office address

You have to provide a registered office address when you set up a company. It needs to be a physical address in the UK and must also be ‘appropriate’. What that means is that someone acting on behalf of your company will be made aware of post delivered and that if a sender wants it, they can get confirmation of delivery.

Sometimes people use their home address as the registered office. That might seem a good idea at the time but the information is on the public record and cannot be removed. As an alternative, many businesses use a virtual office as their registered address. That keeps things private, as does using your solicitor’s or accountant’s address.

Choose your directors and a company secretary

Your company must have at least one director. It is important for directors to be legally responsible for managing the company and making sure that company accounts and reports are accurately prepared. They also are responsible for filing the accounts and the company tax return with HMRC.

You don’t have to appoint a company secretary, although many firms have one to help with some of the director’s duties. The company secretary may also be a director.

Enter Directors details

Personal information such as name, nationality, occupation and month and year of birth is required. A director must also give 2 addresses:

A correspondence address for the public register (known as a service address). This is used for communications about the company and can be the same as the registered office address if you want. Once again, you can protect your privacy by using a virtual office or other service address.
A residential address is a director’s home address. This is kept private and is only shared with credit reference agencies and public authorities.

Entering shareholders

Your company must have at least one shareholder who can also be a director. If you are the only shareholder you will own 100% of the company. There’s no maximum number of shareholders.

When entering shareholders (referred to as ‘subscribers’ for newly formed companies), it’s important to make sure their details are accurate. Key things to verify and include:

Correct Names: Double-check that all shareholders' names are spelled correctly and accurately reflect the individuals or entities involved. As of September 2024, Companies House had upped their price if you need to make additional amendments, so if you do make a mistake it can be costly.
Avoid Self-Subscription: Ensure the company itself is not mistakenly listed as a subscriber.

Identify People with Significant Control (PSC) over your company

You must identify individuals with significant control (PSC) over your company. A PSC is someone who meets one or more of the following conditions:

Owns more than 25% of the company’s shares
Holds more than 25% of the company’s voting rights
Has the authority to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors
Exercises significant influence or control over the company

These details need to be registered with Companies House to ensure transparency and compliance with UK regulations.

Prepare essential documents to run your company

Before launching your business, you need to create documents that detail how your company will be managed, including:

Memorandum of Association (MoA): This is a legal statement signed by all initial shareholders, confirming their agreement to form the company. It officially establishes your business.
Articles of Association (AoA): These are the rules that dictate how your company will work. They cover important details such as decision-making processes, the responsibilities of directors and shareholders, and the conduct of meetings.

Helpfully, if you register online, the MoA will be created for you. There are also model AoAs online, so you can use these if they fit the bill. Both documents are required and serve as the core framework for how your company will operate.

Check what records you’ll need to keep for your company

You need to keep records up to date. Lots of businesses use accountants to prepare and send in their annual accounts and most companies use accounting software for their internal books. But there are other records you need to keep too:

Statutory Records:

Register of shareholders: Details of who owns shares in the company.
Register of directors: Information about the company’s directors.
Register of people with significant control (PSC): A record of individuals with significant influence or control over the company.
Records of resolutions and meetings: Minutes of director and shareholder meetings, as well as any resolutions passed.

Accounting Records:

Records of all income and expenses, assets, liabilities, and any other financial transactions.
Copies of invoices, receipts, and other proof of transactions.
Details of the company’s debts, liabilities, and assets (e.g., property, stock).

Tax Records:

VAT records (if applicable).
PAYE records for employee wages and tax contributions.
Corporation tax returns.

Keeping these records is very important for compliance with legal requirements, reporting to HMRC, and ensuring your business runs efficiently.

How long does it take to register a company on Companies House?

Once a new company’s information is submitted to Companies House, it typically takes between 3 and 5 hours for the company to be officially formed; it is surprisingly quick if all the forms are correct.

That’s it. Hopefully, you’re all set to register your business on Companies House. We wish you all the best and hope that this guide makes things a little easier when you get going. It really is a lot easier than people think. Good luck.

About the author

Jamie Herrington is a copywriter for Virtual HQ – a leading provider of virtual office solutions across major cities over the UK. Spanning 140+ locations, Virtual HQ is a straightforward service that makes renting office space simple and hassle-free.

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