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How to register a company in the UK

swombat.com

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Re: How to register a company in the UK

#3
"But before you can do that, you need to figure out which package you want. The crucial factor is that in order to open a bank account, you will need a printed Certificate of Incorporation."

This is not true. I have registered a few companies and not once did they care about the printed certificate. They will call Companies House or email them and confirm you are a director and the company exists.

Note: My bank is Lloyds TSB.

Re: How to register a company in the UK

#4
post #3

"But before you can do that, you need to figure out which package you want. The crucial factor is that in order to open a bank account, you will need a printed Certificate of Incorporation." This is not true. I have registered a few companies and not once did they care about the printed certificate. They will call Companies House or email them and confirm you are a director and the company exists. Note: My bank is Ll…

[deleted]

Re: How to register a company in the UK

#5
After looking around I used the Bronze package from Companies Made Simple. It ended up being slightly cheaper then using Companies House direct (my understanding of which is that Companies House only charges formation agents £14 per company). Both give you a PDF of the Certificate of Incorporation which you can print off yourself for the bank if they ask for it, plus if you're happy with Barclays the £50 cash back was pretty sweet.

Re: How to register a company in the UK

#6
post #3

"But before you can do that, you need to figure out which package you want. The crucial factor is that in order to open a bank account, you will need a printed Certificate of Incorporation." This is not true. I have registered a few companies and not once did they care about the printed certificate. They will call Companies House or email them and confirm you are a director and the company exists. Note: My bank is Ll…

Ah, your experience differs from mine, then. Every time I opened a bank account (HSBC and Lloyds too) they asked for a copy of the printed certificate of incorporation. Maybe it depends on your branch?

Re: How to register a company in the UK

#7
post #2

I registered directly with Companies House a few months ago, after consulting an accountant. It was completely straightforward. I don't see any need to use a third party.

I've done both in the past, and while Companies House is straight forward, using a third party is even easier, its usually a case of just filling out a page or two form and entering credit card details.

The companies I've registered through third parties email me annually with reminders of what needs to be filled when etc, and where I've left a company dormant I can get that filed for a nominal fee and a couple of clicks of a button.

Additionally they often have cash back deals with the banks, so after opening an account I actually ended up with a profit from registering the company (about £5)

Re: How to register a company in the UK

#8
post #3

"But before you can do that, you need to figure out which package you want. The crucial factor is that in order to open a bank account, you will need a printed Certificate of Incorporation." This is not true. I have registered a few companies and not once did they care about the printed certificate. They will call Companies House or email them and confirm you are a director and the company exists. Note: My bank is Ll…

I opened a business account with Lloyds last month and they were happy with an electronic copy of the certificate.

Re: How to register a company in the UK

#9
post #8
post #3

"But before you can do that, you need to figure out which package you want. The crucial factor is that in order to open a bank account, you will need a printed Certificate of Incorporation." This is not true. I have registered a few companies and not once did they care about the printed certificate. They will call Companies House or email them and confirm you are a director and the company exists. Note: My bank is Ll…

I opened a business account with Lloyds last month and they were happy with an electronic copy of the certificate.

I've updated the article to mention this. Thanks for bringing it up!
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