When you set up a limited company, it’s an important step in starting a business. It allows you to keep personal assets separate from those of the company, which makes it easier for you to start a new venture without having to sell any of your existing assets. Here are the 2 most popular ways of doing so:
Set up a company with Companies House
Companies House is the UK governing body for limited companies in the UK. When you set up a limited company, regardless of how you choose to do so, it will be registered with Companies House. This will cost you £12 to do it online or £40 by post.
Companies House doesn’t only register companies, it’s also the home of the entire registered company database that’s available to the general public. On this database, you can see director, shareholder and company information free of charge.
Apart from registering a company or searching for a company’s details, you can also use Companies House Web Filing. This is an online service that allows you to submit everything from annual accounts and returns to any changes to your company details.
Set up a company with a formation agent
There are many formation agents that you can use to set up a limited company, we’re one, and we’re even approved by Companies House to form limited companies!
Most formation agents charge more than the £12 that Companies House charges to register a company (not in our case, we only charge £9.99 for our cheapest formation bundle). If a company is formed through a formation agent, it is still registered with Companies House.
In General, formation agents don’t offer just a simple company formation like Companies House. They offer formation bundles with additional services and products that you might need as a limited company, such as business bank accounts, accountants, a website, and the list goes on.
We’re no exception, we have a whole range of bundles to suit every type of business that include a range of different services and products to help build and grow your company. You can see all our bundles here.
We’ve even designed a set of bundles to give you peace of mind that your company is protected and everything is compliant. We’ll do all your Companies House Web Filing for you as well as protect your privacy with our Registered Agent service and have even included a legal document and contract creator!
Which is best for you?
Now we know that Companies House is the Governing body for limited companies in the UK and provide limited company formations. Formation agents work with Companies House to provide company formations and a more robust range of services that support limited companies, but which one is best for you when you set up a limited company?
If you’re well versed in the workings of a limited company and you only want a limited company formation, Companies House might be the best option for you.
If you’re not 100% sure about how a limited company and its filings work, and you want more than just a company formation, you should use a formation agent.
Set up a limited company with us
We’ve set up over 750,000 limited companies over the last 12 years and as we mentioned, it can cost you as little as £9.99 with us.
If you need additional services to build and grow your company, we have everything you could need at preferential prices or included in one of our bundles.
We’ve even simplified the application form and our expert customer support team is also on hand to answer any questions you might have and make sure your application has the best chance of being accepted.
First, you need to check if the company name you want is available to register by using our free company name checker. All you need to do then is pick any extras, checkout and complete your application form!