subject: How Does Companies House Work? [print this page] Companies House is a government institution that deals with all the documentation and registrations under the Companies Acts of 1985 to 2006. It is situated in the United Kingdom. The system of registering companies started since 1844 in the UK. The various acts that govern the registration of companies include the Companies Act 1985, the Companies Act 1989 and the Companies Act 2006.
All companies in England, Wales and Scotland are registered under Companies House. The Registrar of Companies for England and Wales is Gareth Jones. The companies that are registered in Scotland, however, are governed by Scottish law. The Registrar of Companies for Scotland is Dorothy Blair.
Companies House is the first organization to have enabled electronic company formation. It has millions of companies on the register. Netbanx is a company that takes care of the Companies House website and web based activity. It helps in accepting the payments made through credit cards, online banking, debit cards and other online modes of payment. The new system, called companies house Information Processing System (CHIPS), launched by Companies House in the recent past, has enabled the provision of web filing services throughout the day. It also provides free information on company registration through its website, which can be accessed very easily.
With the availability of this process, it has become very easy and comfortable to register a company by using software on the internet and that too at a reasonable price.
With the advent of electronic registration, 83% of the companies today are electronically registered, with the help of online company formation service providers or agents. More than 80% of the document filing can be done online. Searches have increased from 3,726,000 to 4,676,000 from 2005 to 2006. About 10,000 sets of accounts were filed electronically in 2005-2006.The electronic registration of companies is being further popularized by online agents, who provide various services to set up your company and run it hassle free at a very low cost.
Companies House - Basic Requirements for Registration
Once you fulfill the basic conditions, Companies House registers your company. These requirements are:
Preferred name of your company A valid registered postal address in the UK Name of the director or secretary of the company Share distribution structure Filling up of the mandatory documents correctly
For detailed information on company formation, visit a1companies.com. A1 Company Services Limited offers customized company formation services to individuals across the UK and across the world.
