Company Formations, Online Company Formation, UK Ltd Company Incorporation

Under the Money Laundering Regulation 2007, all company formation agents are required to check the identity and information provided by all company formation clients.

Wisteria Formations can accept copies of a photo driver’s license or passport (for proof of identity) as well as either a copy of a bank statement or utility bill (as proof of address). From this we can match your residential address with your personal ID and your residential address will be stored on file with Companies House.  This increased level of checking is imposed by the UK government as a way of preventing money laundering in the UK and making it easier to trace any potential offenders through the financial system. You can scan, fax and post copies of these documents to us and then we can begin registering your new limited company with Companies House.

All company formation agents must abide by this regulation within the risk based approach and therefore you should expect your company formation agent to ask you for these documents.

As part of this process, identity documents are securely retained on our files.

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is an act of UK parliament which defines UK law on processing of data on identifiable living people. In practice in it is a way for individuals to control information about themselves. It comprises of 8 key data protection principles.

1. Data may only be used for the purpose in which it was collected.


2. Data must not be provided to third parties without consent of the individual to whom it concerns. Unless however there is legislation or other overriding legitimate reasons for sharing the information, such as to prevent crime.


3. Individuals have the right to access information held about them


4. Information can be kept for no longer than is required.


5. Personal information may not be sent outside the European Economic Area unless the individual to whom it concerns has consented or adequate protection is in place.


6. Subject to some exceptions, all entities that process personal information must register with the Information Commissioner's Office.


7. Those holding personal information are required to have adequate security measures in place. Those include technical measures and organisational measures.


8. Subjects have the right to have factually incorrect information corrected

Wisteria Formations comply with all DPA regulations therefore you can be safe in the knowledge that your documentation and personal information is protected.

To start your company formation now with Wisteria Formations, click here:

https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration

For more information please call 0844 893 0808 or email us at formations@wisteria.co.uk.

Wisteria Formations’ online company formation process is straightforward and can be completed within ten easy steps.  Each step clearly breaks down the information required and you are guided through the whole process.

Step 10

This is the final step to completing your online company incorporation with Wisteria Formations. Here you have the opportunity to add any additional products to your basket before you pay and finalise your company incorporation.

The list of additional products we offer are below; all of these items may be useful after you company formation for reasons of compliance.

1. Official Incorporation Certificate (£8.00 +VAT)

The official incorporation certificate is a legal document licensing the due corporation and valid existence of a company. This is printed on official Companies House compliance paper. When opening a company bank account, banks are now more frequently requesting companies to provide this document on official paper. Therefore you may be asked for this depending on the bank you decide to use.

1. Official Printed Share Certificates (£15.00 + VAT)

Share certificates are valued by some as a physical proof of their shareholdings in the company.

1. Official Bound Company Register (£35.00 + VAT)

The company register must be kept up to date as laid down by the Companies Act. We issue you with a bound copy of the register making it easy to view and re-arrange in order to keep it up to date.

1. Official Company Seal (£35.00 + VAT)

The company seal is purchased and used by most new companies to emboss its company name and number onto a document to evidence that an agreement has been executed by the company. It can be used on documents such as formal contracts, share certificates, deeds and lease agreements. It is a traditional way for a company to “sign” a document and it can be used when entering into a contract with a party from another country where it is traditional to use a seal.

1. Bound Copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association (£15.00 + VAT)

The Memorandum and articles of association are the regulations governing the relationship between the company and the outside as well as the relationship between the directors and shareholders. These are required by law for company incorporation in the UK.   These are supplied in a PDF format within the basic service, however having a bound copy for future reference is usually useful.

To start your company formation once you have chosen any additional products you would like to purchase, please go to: https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration.

If you need any help please ask our company formation support team for further advice on 0844 893 0808.

Wisteria Formations’ online company formation process is straightforward and can be completed within ten easy steps.  Each step clearly breaks down the information required and you are guided through the whole process.

Step 9

Wisteria Chartered Accountants are Wisteria Formations parent company and provide a variety of extra services for our formation clients.

• Free one hour accountancy, tax and business advice meeting is a chance for you to get some good advice from one of our Chartered Tax Advisers or Chartered Accountants. This will also give us a more in depth understanding of your company and allow us to review whether there is anything else you need to consider when starting your business. Ideally, this will be in the form of a meeting in person at our London offices.

• VAT registration - Wisteria Chartered Accountants provide VAT registration, completion of VAT returns and associated planning advice. The application for VAT registration costs £100 + VAT.

For more information about VAT and VAT registration please visit:

http://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/articles/index.php/when-should-i-register-for-vat/

• Registration as an Employer - Wisteria Chartered Accountants deal with your PAYE registration    for a fee of £100 + VAT. You are required to register for PAYE if you plan to employ directors and staff, or to make payments to these.

For more information about registering as an employer please visit:

http://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/articles/index.php/register-as-an-employer-paye-registration/

• Appoint Wisteria Ltd as your Chartered Accountants, tax & business advisers – There is no initial cost for appointing Wisteria Ltd to act on your behalf, however charges will apply depending on the services you ask us to provide.

• Financial Business Plan – Wisteria Chartered Accountants work alongside you to build a customised financial business plan for your company, at a charge of £375 + VAT.  A business plan is crucial at the start of a company formation as it helps you develop your business idea, secure funding and at a later stage in the company’s life evaluate its progress. Banks or investors will more likely be persuaded to help fund your company once they are convinced by an in depth business plan.

To begin your online company formation or carry on with your registration now that you are more familiar with the services available to you after your company formation, please visit: www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration

Wisteria Formations’ online company formation process is straightforward and can be completed within ten easy steps.  Each step clearly breaks down the information required and you are guided through the whole process.

Step 7

All companies must provide details of their UK registered office address.

This address is where all corresponding and statutory mail is delivered and this address is publicised by Companies House. However this office does not need to be where the company conducts business and an accountant or agent such as Wisteria can therefore provide registered office services. You can select Wisteria as your registered office at a cost of £100 +VAT.

Since October 2009, new regulations allow company directors to use the company registered office (or any other address) instead of their home address for contact or as their service address on the Companies House register.

A change in the registered office calls for a simple board resolution and filing with Companies House using an AD01 form.

Step 8

At step 8 we give you the free option to choose opening a company bank account using our direct contacts at Barclays or HSBC. By selecting one or both of these options we can fast track the application process for you. We like to provide a custom service to each of our clients and so we make all additional products and services such as assisting in setting up a company bank account optional.

For more information on setting up a company bank account please refer to this article:

http://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/articles/index.php/opening-a-company-bank-account/

To start your company formation once you have chosen your companies registered office and/or would like us to refer you directly to Barclays or HSBC, please go to: https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration.

If you need any help please ask our company formation support team for further advice on 0844 893 0808.

Wisteria Formations’ online company formation process is straightforward and can be completed within ten easy steps.  Each step clearly breaks down the information required and you are guided through the whole process.



Step 5



At this stage you need to decide on how many shares you wish to issue and who you wish to allot the shares to.  We set the nominal value of shares for you as £1 and the default class of share is ordinary as these are the standard default for new private limited companies.  However you can specify whether you would like the value or class of your share to be different from this default and we will contact you to arrange this once you have completed our online company registration process.

For more information on shares and types of shares, you may want to visit these links:

http://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/articles/index.php/what-are-shares-and-share-capital/

http://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/articles/index.php/share-classes-and-types-of-share/



Most small companies have one class of share, and you must have a minimum of one issued share as a private limited company limited by shares.

Remember that you can change your share classes and issue new shares after your company formation, as long as your articles do not prohibit you from doing so.

As part of the company registration you will need to state the name and address of the shareholder/s and how many shares you would like to issue to them.

Step 6



Step 6 requires us to obtain some electronic certification information – we do this by taking some personal identification data from all directors, the company secretary and shareholders of the company.  This electronic certification information required is your eye colour, town of birth and your mother’s maiden name.   This information is held confidentially and only provided to Companies House as part of the incorporation process.

To begin your company formation, now that you understand and know how many shares you want to issue, please go to our online company registration at:  https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration.

Or if you have already begun your company registration with us, go to the link below to login and carry on where you left off.

https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration/login

Wisteria Formations’ online company formation process is straightforward and can be completed within ten easy steps.  Each step clearly breaks down the information required and you are guided through the whole process.

Step Three

Step 3 is where you state the directors you have chosen to appoint for your company; you may have up to 4 directors using our registration, although you may add more once you have been incorporated.

Note it is common and possible for corporations to hold a directorship, for example holding companies may want to be a director of their subsidiary companies to manage each company in their group.

In step three we require the directors’:

-          Name

-          Date of birth

-          Service address (this will be available to the public)

-          Residential address (if different from service address)

-          Contact details

-          Nationality (directors are required to declare their nationality)

-          Occupation

-          Number of shares(if any)

In large companies, the directors are appointed and run the company on behalf of the shareholders, however in the case of a small company formation the directors are often also the shareholders. The new Companies Act requires every company to have at least one director who is an individual, as opposed to a corporation.

Step Four

This is where you have the chance to appoint a company secretary. Since April 2008 you are no longer legally required to appoint a company secretary; however we strongly advise that you do. They have a number of important roles and their primary role is to ensure all regulatory matters are dealt with correctly and everything required by Companies House is completed in a timely and accurate manner.

For company secretaries we require the same details as for directors.  Of course company secretary can also be shareholders.

Wisteria Formations offers the chance for you to appoint Wisteria Registrars Limited as your professional company secretary for a cost of £100 plus VAT pa.  Through Wisteria Chartered accountants, they can assist with the completion of the annual return, dealing with filing requirements and changing details of the company, such as appointing or removing directors, transferring shares or changing the company name.

To start your company formation once you have chosen your company director/s and secretary visit https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration and ask our company formation support team for further advice if you need it on 0844 893 0808.

Wisteria Formations online company formation process is straightforward and can be completed within ten easy steps.  Each step clearly breaks down the information required whilst guiding you through the whole process.

Step 1

The first step is to provide us with your basic information, stating your name, phone number and email address. This is important so that we can get in contact with you and help you through the registration process if required. We can see which step you have got to and can give you any advice or answer any questions you may have at this stage.  Furthermore your contact details are important so that we can contact you in the event of any delay or issues with Companies House.

We ask you to choose a password, which you can then use along with your stated email address, to log back into your application.  The data you have inputted is saved each time you progress to the next step and you can come back later if you wish to do so.

We also require you to fill in a validation code at the bottom of the page. This is a spam filter for validation purposes.  You simply copy the text in the box.

Step 2

Next you need to decide on a company name. When using our online company registration you can instantly check with Companies House if your company name is available, by clicking “check company name”.

Although you should be aware that some words such as British, International, Group and many more are deemed by Companies House as “sensitive” and require further information and approval by Companies House to be used in your company name. The full list of sensitive words and for more information you can visit - http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/gbhtml/gp1.shtml#ch3. This can be dealt with after your registration with us and we provide full support in helping you decide on your company name.

If you have chosen a company name and want to begin your company formation with Wisteria Formations, go to - https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration

If you have any trouble or need advice please contact our UK Formations Support Team on 0844 893 0808.

Once your company has been incorporated and a company bank account opened, your next task may be to choose an accountant who you can trust to be reliable and provide expertise to your business.

When you think of an accountant often audits year end accounts and corporation tax returns springs to mind.  However there are some firms that will offer a much wider level of service that is likely to be of more help, such as:

• Business Plans and strategy advice


• Statutory Accounts


• Bookkeeping


• Corporation tax advice and compliance services


• VAT


• Monthly payrolls and completion of year end forms


• Locating seed capital and business funding

As part of our company formation service, you are entitled to a free business planning meeting with Wisteria Chartered Accountants.  This is an excellent opportunity to discuss the administrative, accounting and tax issues you will need to think about and what processes and procedures need to be put in place.  Also such meetings usually generate new ideas and help to clarify your proposed new business.

To form your company go to our online company formations website and register using our ten easy steps.   https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration

Then ask our company formation help team to directly refer you to our team of chartered accountants or to arrange your free consultation.

Most small companies only have one class of share, meaning they all have the same voting rights, dividend rights and return on capital if the company is wound up. These shares are often referred to as ordinary shares.

These shares normally provide the holder entitlement to vote on shareholder resolutions, receive dividends if declared and participate in any return of capital by the company to its shareholders, for example in relation to the winding up of the company.

Occasionally the structure of the business will require more than one type of share, such as ordinary, preference and non-voting shares.

Preference shares have rights in preference of ordinary shares of a company, for example normally they receive dividends in preference to any other share and have no voting rights. It is possible for a company to issue different preference shares at different times, each with different rights. These shares are attractive to potential investors as they know the specific return they will obtain and they have preferential return on capital should the company become insolvent or when share capital is being reduced.

If preference shares are to be used there are some factors to consider.

1. For example are they to be preferred as to dividends or on a return of capital in winding up the business, or both.


2. Whether the preference dividends are cumulative and if so whether the arrears should carry interest.


3. Whether they participate in dividends beyond the preferential rate.


4. Or whether they hold voting rights.

It should however be noted that for most owner managed businesses, preferential shares are not required and may add an unnecessary level of complexity and administration in relation to the company secretarial matters of the company.

If you are unsure of what shares you would like when forming your limited company, you can complete your online company formation at   https://www.wisteriaformations.co.uk/uk_company_registration and issue ordinary shares. You can then issue or change rights of shares at a later time should you wish.

A share simply represents an individual member’s interest in a company.  The total value of a company’s shares is called its share capital.  Shares are either usually held in public limited companies or private limited companies. These shares give a member certain rights, for example may give a right to a dividend and voting rights within the company. The nature of those rights depends on the class of share; and what has been specified in the Articles of Association.

A minimum of one share must be issued at incorporation and a company can alter the value of the share capital, issue further shares and cancel shares (although the latter can be difficult).

From October 2009, the new Companies Act no longer requires companies to have an authorised share capital and maximum level of share capital that it may issue. Although it may still choose to set a maximum level if it wishes in the articles of association.

Allotment of shares refers to when a person acquires the right to be a shareholder by the board and has a contractual right to the shares, but he is not yet a shareholder.  Issued share capital refers to the process whereby a shareholder takes shares in a company and this is complete once they are registered as a shareholder, which then allows them to exercise the rights associate with these shares.

Companies can issue shares on the basis that payment will be taken and called for at a later date; this is either known as called-up or uncalled share capital. The total value of all paid shares is called paid-up share capital, although most shares are generally issued fully paid.

For more help and assistance when forming your company with Wisteria Formation, call our UK customer support team on 0844 893 0808.

To begin your online company formation once you have decided on your company share capital please go to www.wisteriaformations.co.uk.