How to Register a UK Company: A Practical Guide

In the article 2023 Personal Project Experience Sharing, xiaoz set a goal to "launch at least one overseas product." To successfully complete this plan, after careful consideration, it was decided that registering an overseas company was necessary to conduct overseas business. After searching online, it was found that the cost of registering a UK company is relatively low, so action was taken immediately, and xiaoz successfully registered a UK company.

Where to Register

xiaoz was not familiar with the UK company registration process. After searching for information online, it was decided to use a third-party service provider to handle the registration to avoid unnecessary troubles, such as:

• Unfamiliarity with the process
• Issues with the UK company registered address

Here are some commonly used company formation service providers:

• 1stformations
• Your Company Formation
• tide

xiaoz decided to register through 1stformations and purchased the 27.99 GBP Privacy package, which includes the registered address fee.

Starting the UK Company Registration

Before registering a UK company, you need to prepare the following necessary documents:

• Passport
• VISA or MasterCard debit or credit card for payment
• Proof of address
• UK phone number (optional), you can contact xiaoz via WeChat xiaozme to purchase one

For the registration tutorial, I referred to the following two articles, which are already quite detailed, so I will not copy them in full here:

• 【Super Detailed Guide】Open a UK Company for a Few Hundred Yuan a Year from Home
• UK Company Registration Guide

After completing the entire registration process, the following points should be noted:

• SIC Codes (Industry Classification Codes): You can simply tell ChatGPT about your company's business, and it will generate several suitable codes for you.
• Address Entry: If you do not have a UK address, you can enter your domestic address (in Pinyin or translation).
• Proof of Address: Initially, xiaoz uploaded an iFAST bill, but 1stformations stated it did not meet requirements. Later, a China Merchants Bank credit card bill was re-uploaded and passed the audit.

Registration Time

If the documents are correct, the entire process is quite fast. xiaoz submitted the application on 2024/01/22 and successfully registered on 2024/01/23. The entire process took less than 2 working days, showing high efficiency.

Total Cost

xiaoz chose the 27.99 GBP Privacy package at 1stformations and also selected the pre-screening service. After tax, the total cost was 37.58 GBP, which is not very high.

After the UK company registration was completed, xiaoz discovered that another third-party service provider, tide, offers free LTD (Limited) registration and a free virtual address, requiring only the 12 GBP registration fee charged by Companies House. Additionally, tide can open a commercial bank account for you for free. Those interested can research registering a UK company via tide.

Obtaining Company Documents

After the company is successfully registered, 1stformations will send an email notification containing various company documents, including:

• Certificate: Similar to a business license, it contains the Company Number. This number is required when registering various enterprise services (banks, Stripe, Wise) and is very convenient. You can also check your company information on the UK government's official website using this number.
• Authentication Code: Generally used when handling tax matters.
• Register: Shareholder registration information of the company.
• Share Certs: Your share certificates.
• Memarts: Articles of Association.

These documents must be kept safe, as they are required for subsequent registration of certain commercial services, such as opening Stripe or Payoneer accounts.

Next Steps

After registering a UK company, this is just the beginning. Many more tasks need to be completed to carry out business, such as:

• Activating the company tax account (under research)
• Obtaining the IN01 form (to be shared later)
• Registering payment services and bank accounts (partially completed, a bumpy experience, to be shared later)
• Submitting annual company reports and corporation tax returns (under research)

Additionally, your company details can be queried via: Find and update company information.

Conclusion

If you are unclear about the UK company registration process, you can directly choose the third-party registration services provided by 1stformations, Your Company Formation, or tide. The entire registration process is relatively quick and the cost is not high. However, after the company is registered, there are many additional tasks, such as activating tax accounts, opening bank accounts, annual filings, and tax declarations. xiaoz is still learning and researching these, and will share further updates later. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment for discussion.

Additionally, we previously created a "Freelancer Exchange Group" which is now full, so a new group has been established. Those interested can scan the QR code below to join the discussion.