STARTING A BUSINESS

The main types are:

• Sole trader
• Business partnership
• Limited company
• Limited partnership
• Limited liability partnership (LLP)

You can form an ‘unincorporated association’ if you’re setting up a small organisation like a sports club or a voluntary group and don’t plan to make a profit. You can use other structures for businesses that help people or communities, eg ‘social enterprises’.

To set up a private limited company you need to register with Companies House. This is known as ‘incorporation’. You need:

• Acompany name - there are rules on what it can and can’t include
• An address for the company
• Improved Accuracy
• At least one director
• At least one shareholder
• The agreement of all initial shareholders (‘subscribers’) to create the company - known as a ‘memorandum of association’
• Details of the company’s shares and the rights attached to them - known as a ‘statement of capital’
• Written rules about how the company is run - known as ‘articles of association’

Your company will also need to register for Corporation Tax within 3 months of starting to do business.

When you register your company you need: a ‘Memorandum of Association’ - a legal statement signed by all initial shareholders agreeing to form the company ‘Articles of Association’ - written rules about running the company agreed by the shareholders, directors and the company secretary.