Going LTD and other advice

bowlingo

Hi all,

I own a small electrical contracting business down south and currently employ 2 people. I have been working for the same housing association for the past 8 years and in recent years 95% of my work has been with them doing electrical testing and remedial works within empty properties within a 50 mile radius of my home town.

In a few months time the housing association is going to be employing direct labour on the cards and I have been told I can either take a job with them of which will be like taking a 60% drop in wages (checked with accountant) or there will be no more work for me....The last thing I want to do is go employed as due to my wife not working and being in receipt of long term sickness benefit there simply wont be enough income (large mortgage etc etc)..this is obviously very worrying for me but its my own fault for having all my eggs in one basket...trouble is you cant turn down work with these companies or they will simply give it to someone else

I am thinking about going LTD, getting a website, business cards made etc then starting a persistant campaign contacting lots of housing associations, insurance companies, property management companies etc within a 50 mile radius until hopefully something comes together. This I know is going to be difficult as nowadays it seems the big companies employ other big companies to carry out maintenance etc.

Firstly I would like to know how easy it is to go LTD and what the costs are etc..My accountant could of course do this for me but if I can do it myself I am sure I will be making a significant saving. I am already VAT registered so that side of things isnt a problem as I do my own returns etc.

Any other advice on my future plants would also be greatly apreciated.

Thanks

anamenottaken

Why not a PLC rather than Ltd?

Premier_2

Go and see your accountant. From what you have posted I don't believe you have a good reason for incurring the extra expense of trading as a limited company.

Your accountant will obviously know your affairs better than me, and will advise you accordingly.

bowlingo

The reasons I am looking to go LTD is due to the limited liabilty side of things and also I believe I have more chance of being entertained by the big outfits if ive got LTD after my name

pjclar02

Hello there

It is easy for form a limited company - cost will be well under £100 to register - shop around for an incorporation agent, you will find it as cheap as £15.

You will need to transfer your VAT registration to the limited company - which is straightforward enough.

The big compliance issue is filing annual accounts with Companies House, and corporation tax returns with HMRC. Again - shop around, there are cheap accountants out there who will do your accounts for around £500 per year.

Hope this is of some help

pjclar02

anamenottaken wrote: »

Why not a PLC rather than Ltd?

You don't come across many electrician PLCs......!!

firstinflight

Do you really need the protection of limited liability? I assume you already have insurance against legal claims arising in the course of your work. Do you incur alot of costs up front, buy alot of supplies on credit or plan on taking on alot of debt? If the answer is no, then ltd liability will probably be of little use to you. Not to mention that for a business of this size, most potential creditors will require a personal guarantee from the director anyway.

As far as reputation goes, well any cowboy with a few quid can register a company. Your good record with your current main customer is more likely to open doors than having Ltd on the end of your name.

BoGoF

Do you currently have gross payment status as a sub-contractor with HMRC?

bowlingo

BoGoF wrote: »

Do you currently have gross payment status as a sub-contractor with HMRC?

Not sure...can you explain please

firstinflight

I think BoGoF is referring to the construction industry scheme.

bowlingo

I am not gross payment status as far as CIS goes

Anyone any futher ideas on how I cam possibly get in with some of the bigger organisations?