Forming a Company

• Posted onJanuary 30, 2017

Forming a company or “incorporating” a company can easily be done online at Companies House, costs only £12 and you will normally have your new company within 24 hours.

You can only incorporate your company online if you use standard articles of association (known as “model articles”). The articles are the rules governing how the company operates, for example, calling meetings, paying dividends, issuing more shares, etc.  If you want changes to the model articles these can easily be done after incorporation.  You will, of course, need a name for your company and there are detailed rules on what the name can be but most common words can be used and you can check the availability of your name choice online.  Once your company is incorporated you will receive a Certificate of Incorporation which confirms that your company legally exists, shows the date of formation and your company’s registered number.

We recommend that you contact us at WSP Solicitors to talk through the incorporation process before you go online to incorporate your business or you can ask us to incorporate it for you. You have to make quite a few decisions: the name, the registered office (the address where the company legally resides and to which legal documents including from HMRC will be sent) and whether or not any amendments to the model articles are needed.

If you are incorporating the business with a colleague you ought to put in place a shareholders’ agreement between you. This is essential if there are more than 2 shareholders or directors and/or you have different numbers of shares.  Please see Why do I need a Shareholders’ Agreement for more details.

We think that an initial meeting with WSP Solicitors at this stage may probably be the most important meeting that you could have with your solicitor. This is a golden opportunity for you and your business partner(s) to discuss with us what you are each hoping to achieve by your involvement with your new company and to ensure that your rights and responsibilities as directors and shareholders are fully understood and agreed.  Indeed we think this meeting is so important that we will usually attend it free of charge and without obligation.

 

For further information surrounding forming a company read other recent articles written by our specialist team here.

If you would like to get in touch with our specialist commercial law team, you can contact us here