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The majority of businesses are not companies. The reasons for having a company are varied, for example, it could involve ownership of property, obtaining investment funds, taxation or contractual relationships. Many businesses function satisfactorily as sole traders or partnerships.
The key point to recognise is that a company is a separate entity. This means that it is a legal entity in its own rightIt is separate from those who own or run it, and Has 'limited liability'.It attracts its own liability to taxation through the corporation tax system.The differences in the taxation rates for corporation tax as compared to the personal tax system allowing owner managers the option of low salary/high dividand as a low tax bearing scheme is not always what it seems. For example, major problems may arise over the ownership of motor vehicles.There is no substitute for good professional advice. |
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A private limited company is required to have at least one director and one member. A public limited company must have at least two directors and a secretary, who may be one of the directors and two members.
The directors must manage the affairs of the company in compliance with the clauses in the articles and association and abiding by the law. The secretary is the administrator of the company and is responsible for ensuring proper adherence to the regulations and company policy. |
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No. All PLC's must have a secretary, however Companies Act 2006 S270(1) states "A private company is not required to have a secretary", this has effect from 6 April 2008. However the order provides that a company whose articles immediately before 6 April 2008 expressly required it to have a secretary is a company "with a secretary" for the purposes of S270(2) until its Articles are amended to remove the requirement. Care should be taken with sole director/member company's who do not appoint a secretary. If the sole director dies there is no serving officer who can effect a transfer of shares. As the law currently stands any assets owned by the company will become property of the crown. |
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| Generally Companies house have an average processing time of 4 hours for electronic submissions of formations. On completion of a successful submission you will be informed initially by email which will have attached to it the certificate of incorporation and a copy of the Memorandum & Articles of Association. |
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| Limited liability gives the owners of the company (its shareholders) protection if the company fails. This means that if a company is put into liquidation, the people who own the company will only be 'limited in their liability' to pay what they have already paid or agreed to pay towards settling its debts. This is normally the par value of the already issued share capital. |
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The members (shareholders) of a company select the board of directors. Generally anyone over 16 years old can be a director with the following restrictions:
The person must not have been disqualified by a court from acting as a company director (unless has been given leave to act by a court for a particular company); The person must not be an undischarged bankrupt (except with leave of the court); and For a PLC or their subsidiaries, anybody over the age of 70 unless specifically approved by a general meeting of the company |
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Yes this is quite normal with new companies. Please note that registered address doesn't necessarily mean trading address. Registered address will be considered the official address of the business. The use of PO Box adresses will not be allowed. The registered office is crucial in determining the registry that will form the company. For example a registered office in London means the company will be one of 'England and Wales' and held on the registry at Cardiff. Similarly a company with a registered office in Glasgow will be formed as a Scottish company on the register at Edinburgh. Companies House, Inland Revenue and various government offices will use this address for correspondence, including supply of valuable information, forms, notification letters, etc. If the location of the Registered Office needs to be changed this should be done on Companies House Form 287 |
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Some times people make a mistake when forming a company or what seemed a good idea never materialised and never commenced trade. In these circumstances you may apply to the registrar through Form 652a for the 'striking off' of the company. Once again good professional help should be sort. If you decide that you do not need a company that you have traded with you can put it into voluntary liquidation. You could apply for it to be struck off the register once its liabilities have cleared. |
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