Information needed to register a company

The information required to register a company changed on 1st. October 2009. There are two main changes:

1. Authorised share capital is abolished (this was a rule that required the company documents to state the maximum number of shares it could allot).

2. A director is required to state a 'service address' (which will go on the public register) plus their usual residential address (which will be available to public authorities and credit reference agencies but not to the general public). The two addresses may be the same.

To register your company we need information from you about the company and its directors, shareholders and (if the company is to have one) the company secretary. Please complete the order form with the details of the company we are to register for you. There are a lot of details to complete and you will probably want to collect all the information before you begin. A full description of the information required can be found below.

The information required to register your company is:
1. Company name
2. Registered office
3. Directors
4. Company secretary (if any)
5. Shareholders

1. Company name
The full company name (ending in 'Limited' or 'Ltd') (There is a name check facility which links through to Companies House so you can see if the name is already registered.)

2. Registered office
The address of its registered office (including postcode). For more information, see our FAQs

3. Directors
Details of each of the directors, the company secretary (if required) and shareholders. The company must have at least one director. For each director you will need their:

• Full name
• Service address (which will go on the public record)
• Residential address (available to public authorities and credit reference agencies only)
• Date of birth
• Nationality
• Present occupation (you can't use 'director' unless he or she already a director of a UK company)
• Details of any other registered company of which they are a director
• Any former names (does not apply when a woman has changed her name on marriage)
• The number of shares (if any) the director is to have in the company

Director's service address
This was brought in on 1st. Octber 2009 so that directors' home addresses would not be available on the public file. The address must be one at which the director can be contacted. It may be the director's home address, but need not be. If the company has business premises, that address is the obvious one to use. If the business is being run from the director's home, then that will probably be the company's registered office address anyway, so there is not much point in using a service address that is different from the home address. We offer a company registered office service and a director's service address service if you want to use our address. See company secretarial services for more details.

Because the information is being registered electronically, without the directors, etc signing any paper forms, Companies House also insists on any three of the following pieces of security information:

4. Company secretary
This is now optional. A private company need not have a secretary but may do so.
Slightly less information is required for the company secretary:

• Full name
• Service address (see notes on directors' service addresses)
• Date of birth
• The number of shares (if any) the secretary is to have in the company.
• Security information (as for a director - see above)

If the company secretary is also a director, the information can be put in at the same time.

5. Shareholders
In many cases the directors and company secretary will be shareholders in the company. If so, the number of shares they are to have is stated when putting in their details as a director or secretary. A director does not have to be a shareholder, however, and there may be shareholders who are not directors. For more information see our FAQs. For a shareholder who is not a director, the information required is:

• Full name
• Address (including postcode, but could be a business address)
• The number of shares the shareholder is to have in the company.
• Security information (as for a director - see above)

If you have any questions about the information required please contact us by email or by telephone at any time, Monday - Friday, 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.