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Services overview > UK Limited Company Formation

UK Limited Company Formation

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We offer three different limited company formations. 

What is a UK Limited Company?

  • A legal entity whose liability is limited by shares (Ltd)

  • The most common form of privately held company

  • It can be registered in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

How is a Limited Company Incorporated?

  • The registration of all companies in the UK is done through Companies House. All our company formation packages include the Companies House filing fee and our formation process is just 4 simple steps. Here's how it works.

  • A limited company must obtain approval from Companies House to use its proposed name. With Companies MadeSimple, you can instantly check if your proposed company name is available.

View our Package Comparison Matrix to see what's included in each and find the one most suitable for you.

  • Basic

    Register a UK company limited by shares, with no complicated paperwork to complete.

    £54.99 +VAT

  • Privacy

    Register a UK company limited by shares, complete with the use of a registered office and service address to protect the privacy of your home address. Your official government mail (HMRC, Companies House, Government Gateway etc.) will be scanned and emailed to you. 

    £69.99 +VAT

  • Limited by Guarantee with Privacy Package

    The Limited by Guarantee with Privacy package includes:

    • Registration of a UK company limited by guarantee
    • Use of 20 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU as your company’s official registered office address.
    • Use of the registered office address as your service address, protecting all director(s), guarantor(s) and PSC(s) addresses from appearing on the Companies House public register.
    • All official government mail* scanned and emailed to you, free of charge. 
       

    £129.99 +VAT

  • Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

    Register a limited liability partnership. Includes free draft LLP Agreement.

    £99.99 +VAT

Our Frequently Asked Questions

On the right, you will find the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

If you still can't find the answer to your question, why not try our virtual assistant?

View all FAQs

We're Here To Help

Still have questions? Call us on 020 7608 5500 or contact us and our team will assist you. 

Company formations can take as little as 3 working hours* (excluding bank holidays and weekends).

Company Formation MadeSimple uses the Electronic Filing facilities at Companies House, so when you place an order on our website, your request is sent instantly to Companies House for processing.

*Companies House completes the incorporation in as little as 3 working hours depending on their workload or technical difficulties. We will then email you as soon as the company has been incorporated along with your company number.

Need your company to be incorporated same day? Guaranteed? This is possible with our Same Day Guarantee - add on product. Click here to find out more. 

Please Note: Company registrations submitted on weekends or UK bank holidays will be incorporated the next working day subject to the workload at Companies House and a successful application with no errors. 

As soon as your company application has been successfully validated at Companies House (Normally within 1 working day of submission), your incorporation documents are automatically ported over to our system, free for you to download whenever you wish from your Company Details page accessible via the "My Companies" section of your account. 

If you then scroll down to 'My Company Documents' you can access your company’s:

You can also download your share certificates (If you have a Limited by Shares company) via the shareholder section of the Company Details page. 

We will also send you hard copies of the certificate of incorporation and share certificate via post within 5 working days (excluding the Basic and Privacy Package). The documents will be sent to the address in the Personal Details section of your account. 

A limited company requires at least one person to run/ own it (unless your company is under the Limited Liability Partnership structure which require at least 2). This means you can be the only person listed as the officer/s of the company. 

To confirm, if it is just yourself running and owning the business, it is absolutely fine for you to be the only person listed on the company's statutory information available to see on the public register at Companies House. 

Please Note: This answer is applicable to Limited by Shares and Limited by Guarantee companies only. A secretary is no longer mandatory when forming a company.

We offer a "Registration Review" service which is purchasable from the "final summary" page of the application to form a new company. 

This service will prompt a company formation expert to review the application to see if we can spot any common mistakes before submitting the application to Companies House to reduce the risk of it being rejected and having to repeat the process to submit again. 

Common Mistakes we will look out for

  • Company Name Availability
  • Spelling of Company Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Service and Residential Address Format 
  • Residential Address Country
  • Supporting Documents
  • M&As
Please Note: This service is not a guarantee that the company will not get rejected but does incredibly reduce the risk of it.

Form your limited company quickly and easily in just 4 simple steps:

  1. Search for your company name using our name availabiliy tool.
  2. Select one of our company formation packages.
  3. Buy the package of your choice to release the correct application. 
  4. Complete the company formation application online.

You'll be able to review all your company details to ensure they're correct, then submit your company registration to Companies House.

Please Note: We will need to conduct an ID check as part of Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations. Please click here for more information.

A shareholder is someone who owns shares in a limited company. They own the company along with other shareholders (if there are others).

A subscriber is someone who was a shareholder at the time of the company's incorporation they do not need to remain a shareholder for the lifespan of the business but will always be listed as the initial shareholders/ owners of the company. 

A company Limited by Shares are the most popular type of limited company. They are owned by shareholders and have liability based on the value of the shares issued in the company. They are generally profit driven businesses and will have the suffix LIMITED or LTD at the end of their company name. 

A full guide to companies Limited by Shares can be found here.

Technically speaking, a person of any age can be appointed as a shareholder of a company. However, it is important to note that appointing somebody under the age of 18 may result in some difficulties further down the line: This could be with contract signings, opening of bank accounts, then there is parental settlements and potential capital gains tax. 

We advise speaking to a business advisor or accountant if you are thinking about appointing somebody under the age of 18 as an owner of the business. 

There is no limit to the amount of shares you have issued into your company. You need to have at least one when creating a Limited by Shares company. There are different factors to consider such as the amount of capital needed to be raised, whether there is enough "cash on hand" to cover the amount of capital issued and what stipulations in regards to decision making is listed within the articles of association for the company. 

The default value and amount of shares issued upon incorporation is 1 share at 1 GBP, but this is entirely up to the company. 

If unsure as to how you would like to structure your business, we recommend speaking to a business advisor. 

When forming a private limited company by Shares in the UK, you will need to have the following:

  • Proof of ID & Address
  • Company Name, Company Address and Business Activity
  • Director and Secretary (optional) Details
  • Share Capital and Shareholder Details
  • People with Significant Control (PSC) Details
  • Memorandum and Articles (M&As)

For more information please visit What Details do I Need to Form a Limited Company? (Limited by Shares).

Below is a list of the type of companies that generally form Limited by Guarantee companies:

  • Clubs
  • Membership organisations, including students' unions
  • Sports associations
  • Workers' co-operatives
  • Other social enterprises
  • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
  • Charities

Companies are entitled to remove the word "Limited" or "LTD" from the end of the company name under Section 60 of the Companies Act. If someone was to apply for this, this is generally actioned by Limited by Guarantee companies. 

We cannot currently action this request. 

A company Limited by Guarantee is an alternative type of limited company used mainly for non-profit organisations. It has members (or guarantors) that give an undertaking to contribute a nominal amount (typically very small) in the event of the winding up of the company.

A full guide to companies Limited by Guarantee can be found here.

When forming a private limited company by Guarantee in the UK, you will need to have the following:

  • Proof of ID
  • Company Name, Company Address and Business Activity
  • Director and Secretary (optional) Details
  • Members Details
  • People with Significant Control (PSC) Details
  • Memorandum and Articles (M&As)

For more information please visit What Details do I Need to Form a Limited Company? (Limited by Guarantee).

We give you permission to use 20 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU as your company’s registered office (the official address for the company) and your company officers’ service address (the official address for company officers) for one year. After this period the package automatically renews.

The renewal price can be found on this link (login required). 

This service provides the scanning and emailing of all official government mail addressed to the company and officers. This includes mail from governing bodies such as Companies House, HM Revenue and Custom and Government Gateway. If you wish to receive standard business mail, our company Virtual Office MadeSimple can provide this service from as little as £29.99 a month.

 

A Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) is a partnership with limited liability for its members, each member having their own liability for their own actions. It has the flexibility of a partnership and is taxed as a partnership. In other respects, it is similar to a private company.

A full guide to Limited Liability Partnerships can be found here.

An LLP must have a minimum of two people (members) who have the intention of starting lawful trade and to (or intending to) make a profit. A member can be a person or a company, known as a 'corporate member'.

There is no maximum number of people that can join an Limited Liability Partnership. A partner need not be a UK resident.

When forming a Limited Liability Partnership in the UK, you will need to have the following:

A Limited Liability Partnership as an organisation is not taxable but the individual members are. They will not file a Company Tax Return but instead the untaxed profits will be distributed amongst its members and they then pay tax on the value of their portion. This will be via a Self Assessment tax return. 

In the United Kingdom, LLPs are governed by the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 (in England and Wales and Scotland) and the Limited Liability Partnerships Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 in Northern Ireland.