Company Registration No - How to Register?

lang8er

Hi all,

Probs being a numpty but...
I need to register my company. I am a soletrader. I have a great new supplier but I need to sign a document to say I can use their images and they won't allow you to sign with a registration no.
Is it done through companies house? I am baffled by all of the jargon - apologies!!
Any advice?

tocadast

Talk to your accountant about changing from a sole trader to a limited company as there are many other things to take into consideration apart from the limited liability aspect.

I would re-appoach your supplier and clarify what type of registration they actually require and see if there's any other way of satisfying their conditions before totally changing the way you run your business.

IF there is no way round it, it's fairly easy to set up a Company on-line, there are many firms who can do this for you. It'll take about half-an-hour and the registration number is created for you within hours. Alternatively your accountant can set one up for you but this will probably be more expensive and take longer.

Good luck!

Pennywise

It is far more than just "getting a company registration number". You would actually be converting your business from a sole trader into a private limited company which has a lot of other implications. Such a transfer is not to be taken lightly. Are you sure they just havn't given you the wrong form to fill in? Perhaps they have different forms for sole traders and others for limited companies. It may well be sensible or beneficial to become a limited company for many reasons, but don't do it just because you think a supplier wants you to. Talk to them and find out what they really need. You can form a company relatively quickly and simply, but you need to do the transfer properly as you effectively close down the sole trader and "sell" its assets to the limited company, so you probably need an accountant to make sure you get the values right and claim all the necessary tax elections etc to avoid a tax charge on the transfer.

Astaroth

The actual registration process is very easy and there are plenty of companies that make it even easier for a total cost of £30

As others have already said however there are many more considerations on top of the actual process of getting a company number and your accountant really should be going through all of these first to help you decide if it is going to be in your best interest/ what the other costs are going to be

lang8er

Thanks for all of your kind and useful advice.
Indeed they had sent me the wrong form.
I really want to impress them so think I jumped the gun a little by posting this message on the forum!
Thanks anyway - didn't expect to get so many replies so quickly!