help! registering a limited company

newfoundglory

i am going to start a business within the next 12 months. i know the company name i want, and want to incorporate it before someone else does. I would be the only director. However, i dont want to trade immediately. In fact, I may not be using it at all at first.

How/where is best to register a limited company and how much will it cost?

What are the on-going costs of having a company I may not actually use?

I am currently working full-time as an employee of another limited company. Would I have to tell HMRC and complete a tax return each year as a company director?

slipp_digby

newfoundglory wrote: »

i am going to start a business within the next 12 months. i know the company name i want, and want to incorporate it before someone else does. I would be the only director. However, i dont want to trade immediately. In fact, I may not be using it at all at first.

How/where is best to register a limited company and how much will it cost?

What are the on-going costs of having a company I may not actually use?

I am currently working full-time as an employee of another limited company. Would I have to tell HMRC and complete a tax return each year as a company director?

I used uk corporator (try google it) which was ok, think it was about £99 to incorporate.

You will need an incorporation which doesn't use the standard Table 2 articles which are basically set up for two directors (a more common set up). I set mine up as a single member company using a slightly customised version of these worded to allow a single director to make all the decisions. The mods were all done online and then were submitted to Copmanies House Electronically.

A good accountant will do it for you for a similar fee, and it may be worth this route to have an initial consultation about your business to glean further information.

Remember you will need a company secretary, you can't be this as well if you aere a sole director. Probably a family member is best.

As far as I understand it, if you receive no income from the company in terms of PAYE salary and no dividends - which you won't if its not trading - you will not need to fill in a tax return.

Not sure about dormant companies, others will advise I am sure.

richt71

You can incorporate electronically a company online that is dormant for the exact reason you want. I used these http://www.company4less.com/search/search.php. Costs £20 and works just as well as other formations but takes 2 days and you have to print out your own M&A (which the banks need if you open a business bank account).

osagefo

Well I recently got incorporated for £22.00 via the internet. My own company name, single director plus you always need a secretary so you will require two people including yourself. Should be a one day affair, but give yourself a couple of days. Also managed to set up a bank account ...now that took almost 3 weeks! Try them ...I did not register a domain because I noticed that even though free, they have punitive exit charges.
http://www.switchmedia.co.uk/formations/

melipona

Just a note on domain names. I think that there are predators out there who monitor company registrations and then pick up and park domain names, you can of course buy them back for £1000 or so. That is certainly what happened to my .com & .co.uk names, so I can only use the .ltd.uk domain; they have been parked now for over 2 years!! It only costs a few pounds to set them up and I would suggest, assuming that the domain has value to you, that you do this before you register the company name.
Good Luck

newfoundglory

Thanks for all the advice!

I actually work in the internet hosting and domain name industry.... so i'm well aware of the domain parking problem. I am a web developer (I also happen to be very familiar with datacentres, networks and e-commerce). My best mate is a graphic designer and is going to brand the company with logo etc for me so thats something else i dont have to worry about.

I have registered a few .com's and .co.uk's already and i'm gonna register my ltd based on those. I have a small book of domain names I can choose from as well.

Its actually really hard to decide on a final name. As i've worked around the city, i think it would be useful to use my own company for any potential contract and consultancy work so I want something generic which I could also use if i decide to trade as something else.

I've also recently read that the Companies Act 2006 is going to allow (from around the 6 April??) for a director to also be the secretary....

This is all so exciting!!

LittleVoice

Actually it is from 6 April this year that a private limited company is not required by statute to have a company secretary at all. And it is also possible for the company to have one director only and no company secretary.

If an existing company (therefore with a company secretary) wanted to dispense with having a Secretary, it would need to inform Companies House and amend its Articles if they contain a specific reference to the company having a secretary.