This simple step by step guide outlines the process to register a business in the UK more easily.
Becoming an entrepreneur is a dream come true and a huge step in life for a lot of people. Starting your business on your own, or with others on a partnership is a very exciting prospect. In order to take your thrilling business ideas to the British market, the primary step you need to take is to register a business in the UK.
First and foremost you need to gather the imperative information required and hence we are here with the guide on how to register a business in the UK, specifically to get your company registered in the UK’s Companies house. Registering a business in the UK is a pretty straightforward process once you have got the basics of the paperwork, company structure sorted out.
The cost to register a business n is also minimal but entirely depends on the type of company being registered. The first question that arises in the mind of an entrepreneur before registering the company is that why should he/she register the company. The answer to this is quite simple if your entrepreneurial project intends on making a profit and paying the legal amount of taxes required, you must register your company in the UK.
Documents needed to register a business in the UK
Before we move on to the part where we talk about the steps to register a business , it is important to have information on the documents required in order to register a business in the United Kingdom. You are required to have a
- Name for the Business
- An office location that would be registered, all the mail from the Companies House and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs would be arriving at this particular address.
- Information of the Directors, such as Date of Births, Names, Addresses of their residences, etcetera
- Information of the Shareholders, such as Date of Births, Names, Addresses of their residences, etc.
- Other relevant documents depending on the company structure.
After you get hold of all the relevant information and the process in which one can register a business in the UK, we move on to the steps on how to actually register a business.
Steps to register a business in the UK
1. Choose the Company Type
There are a lot of Business Structures and Types in the United Kingdom that you’ll have to choose from before starting and registering your business. It entirely depends on the number of people involved in the business, the type of the business, and how big do you expect the company to rise.
The different structures of the companies available at your disposal are
- A Limited Company – Under this particular type of company, the owners and the companies are deemed to be different entities and thus making the owner a little less liable in case the company runs into trouble.
- Partnership – In this company type, two more people come together to run a business together.
- Sole Trader – As the name suggests, this particular company type, caters to those people who want to run the company solely.
- Overseas Company – In case a particular company is based in another country that isn’t the United Kingdom and they want to open a branch in the UK, they have to opt for the Overseas Company Type.
2. Choose and Register a Company Name
While setting up any sort of a company, after deciding the Company Structure it is now the time to choose a relevant name for your company and register it. One pointer, in this case, is that you need to check that the name you have chosen is not already taken.
You can check for the same easily on the Company House website. One more thing to take note of while deciding a Company Name is to make sure that it does not contain any offensive or forbidden words such as slurs, offensive language, or any words which relate to the royal family since a special permission needs to be procured to use the same.
3. Register an Official Address
Any and all businesses to be registered in the United Kingdom must have an official address, since this particular address you would be registering would be a part of the public record. The address can either be a residential one or an office address depending on you.
All the documents from the relevant British authorities will arrive at the address mentioned by you while registration and hence the location needs to be a physical one and not just a P.O Box address.
4. Articles of Association and Memorandum
Even though both of these documents sound pretty complicated, rest assured they are fairly straightforward, nothing to be worried about. A memorandum of association essentially is a document that needs to be signed on to by the shareholders and the directors which indicates their willingness to enter the registered business.
Articles of Association are basically the rules and guidelines set by the company and agreed upon by the directors before initiating the business.
5. SIC Code
Before you register a business, one needs to find out the Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities Code (SIC). There’s a list of SIC codes, you need to choose one amongst them, the objective of this code is to assist the Companies House to determine the category and nature of your business.
6. Register your Business Bank Account:
In case you are deciding to open a limited company, it is compulsory for you to open a separate Business Bank Account and register it for the purpose of simplified accounting and transparency.
You will need to provide the bank with relevant IDs and your companies house registration copy to the bank in order for them to open a Bank Account.
7. Manage your Intellectual Property
Depending on your type of company, there is a good chance you may have any sort of Intellectual Property in the form of trademarks such as a logo or the company name which you will need to register.
Conclusion
As highlighted in this guide, the steps to register a company are fairly simple once you get the basic paperwork and information sorted out in the initial phase.
It can an average of a week depending on the type of registration being done by you to complete the entire registration process and get the relevant registration certificate and documents. Once it is done you are set to go out there with your great business endeavors.
