Company Directors - Companies House, Company Formations FAQs

Our staff in Cardiff and Edinburgh can advise you on general matters but when you start a company it is important to get things right. To avoid be potentially costly mistakes, it may be sensible to consult a solicitor, a company formation agent, a chartered secretary or an accountant as appropriate. Addresses will usually be found in the business telephone directories. For enquiries about Community Interest Companies, please visit the CIC website at www.cicregulator.gov.uk.

The safest and most secure way to send statutory information to Companies House is to use our software filing or webfiling services. For more information and registration details please visit our website at www.companieshouse.gov.uk.

You may deliver documents to Companies House by post, DX and in courier or personally (including outside office hours, bank holidays and weekends) to our offices in Cardiff, London and Edinburgh. You can also send documents to our Edinburgh office by Legal Post (LP). Please note out of hours receipts can only be obtained at our Cardiff office.

If you are sending documents by post, courier, DX or LP and would like a receipt, you must enclose a copy of your covering letter with a pre-paid addressed return envelope. We will barcode your copy letter with the date of receipt and return it to you in the envelope provided.

Please note that an acknowledgement of receipt does not mean that a document has been accepted for registration at Companies House. Companies House does not accept accounts or any other statutory documents via fax.

Companies House sends an automatic e-mail acknowledgement for every submission made via WebFiling and a later e-mail indicating whether the submission has been accepted or rejected.

Generally documents sent to Companies House must be in English. However, you may draw up and deliver documents relating to Welsh companies (that is, companies the memoranda of which say that their registered offices must be in Wales) in Welsh.

Companies may deliver the following documents in other languages if the document is accompanied by a certified translation into English:

• Resolutions and agreements affecting a company's constitution;
• Contracts relating to the allotment of shares for consideration other than cash;
• For companies included in accounts of larger EEA or non-EEA groups, (your accountant will know what these are) the group accounts and parent undertaking annual report; and Charge instruments (or copy charge instruments).

Companies may also file voluntary certified translations of any document subject to the 1st Directive disclosure requirements. These include:

• Constitutional documents such as the memorandum and articles of association;
• Directors appointments, changes in particulars or terminations;
• Accounts, reports and annual returns;
• Notification of any change in a company's registered office;
• Winding up documents;
• Share capital documents (public companies only);
• Documents relating to mergers and divisions (public companies only); and
• Documents relating to overseas companies.

Voluntary translations can only be filed in an official language of the European Union and must be accompanied by Form 1106 which is available on Companies House website at www.companieshouse.gov.uk.

Statutory forms and guidance are available, free of charge from Companies House. The quickest way to get them is through Companies House website www.companieshouse.gov.uk or by telephoning +44 (0)303 1234 500. Forms can also be obtained from legal stationers, accountants, solicitors and company formation agents - addresses in business phone books