What is included in the Basic Service?

This covers:

• Digital Certificate of Incorporation
• Digital Memorandum and Articles of Association
• Digital Share Certificates
• Incorporation within 4-5 working hours on average

The Basic Service is the perfect solution for protecting the name for future use.  If you are not ready to start trading immediately, you can register the company for only £ 29.99 keeping the name just for you.

You can also choose from a range of optional value added products and services that will make life easier for you while setting up your new business.

What is included in the Standard Service?

As well as the Incorporation fee, our most popular company formation package includes:

• A printed Certificate of Incorporation in addition to the digital copy
• A bound copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association in addition to the digital copy
• Digital Share Certificates
• Average 4-5 hour turnaround

What is included in the Executive Service?

This comprehensive, cost-effective package includes everything you need:

• Companies House Incorporation fee
• Printed Certificate of Incorporation in addition to the digital copy.
• Two bound copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association in addition to the digital copy.
• Digital Share Certificates
• First Board Minutes
• A loose leaf, hard backed, combined Company Register
• A plier- style Company Seal
• Average 4-5 hour turnaround for incorporation

What is included in the Guarantee Service?

In addition to the mandatory Incorporation fee, this formation service for non-profit companies includes:

• Printed Certificate of Incorporation in addition to the digital copy.
• Two bound copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association in addition to the digital copy.
• Free submission of your own custom Memorandum and Articles or simply provide a list of your own company objects
• Average 4-5 hour turnaround for incorporation.

How does the FCS Direct Ltd – United Kingdom Company Formation work?

The FCS Direct Ltd UK Company Formation is an online system specifically designed to simplify the process of registering a limited company in the UK. The average response time for an incorporation made on our system is 4 working hours.

What type of company can I register with this system?

The FCS Direct Ltd will enable you to form a Private Company Limited by Shares. You can choose to form a simple, sole or single member company, or alternatively assign multiple directors and shareholders depending on your individual requirements.

You can also form a Company Limited by Guarantee, which is suitable for non-trading, non-charitable and non-profit activities such as sports clubs, societies and trade associations.

How much does it cost to register a company?

You can choose from a range of value-added company formation packages:

• our basic formation service costs only £29.99 plus VAT
• the standard service costs £59.99 plus VAT
• an executive service for £99.99 plus VAT
• a guarantee service for non-profit companies for £99.99 plus VAT

We also offer a free company name check.

What information do I need before I can set up a company?

Once you have decided what to call your new company, you can use our free company name check service to ensure that a company has not already been registered under the same name.

You will need some personal information for each ‘officer’ of your new company:

• full name
• nationality
• occupation
• date of birth
• town of birth
• full address
• mother’s maiden name

You will also need to decide:

• the role or combination of roles each ‘officer’ will play in the company (director, secretary, shareholder)
• the number of shares they will be allocated

Finally, you will need a credit card/payment card to make payment through the secure WorldPay service. Alternative methods of payment are available on request.

Can I choose any name I want for my new company?

The name you choose must not already be registered. You can find this out through our free company name check facility.

The name must not be deemed offensive, or imply any undue association with the government or local authority. There are also certain sensitive words which must be avoided.

Since October 2008, rules were applied that allow complaints to be made where a company has been registered with the intention of extracting money from the complainant or to prevent him from registering a name in which he has goodwill (“opportunistic registration”). These rules also apply retrospectively, ie, to companies registered before October 2008.

How long will it take to set up my new company?

Once you register to use our system, we will provide you with a username and password-protected account instantly. This allows you to access our user-friendly online system where we guide you through a series of simple questions that provide us with everything we need to form a private limited company for you.

Once you submit and pay for your order, we will immediately lodge your application electronically with Companies House.

Once the company has been successfully incorporated at Companies House we will return a confirmation email with your new company number, digital certificate of incorporation (pdf format), digital memorandum and articles and share certificates. Providing there are no errors in your application we can generally have a company number for you within 4-5 working hours.

If you order any non-electronic items, such as a company seal, they will be sent within 5 working days following notification by Companies House that your new company has been incorporated.

Do I need to send you any documents?

No. You simply answer a series of straight-forward questions online.

Do I need any witnesses?

No. This was traditionally required when you make a paper based submission however all the information we send is transmitted electronically direct to Companies House.

What happens if my application is rejected?

If Companies House identify any errors or omissions, the documents will be returned and must be adjusted accordingly.

If your application fails, we will contact you as soon as possible with the reason and ask you to access your account and make any necessary changes.

We will resubmit your application to Companies House as many times as required, at no additional charge.

When and how do I pay to use the system?

Once you have entered all the information we need in order to set up your new company, you are required to complete payment.

All payments are taken online through our secure servers at WorldPay. Additional payment methods are available should you prefer not to pay online.

Please remember, if your application is not successful, you can resubmit it without additional charge.

How secure is my payment?

For millions of people around the world, WorldPay  is ‘the’ way to pay – trusted and securely. We do not store your card details and they will be entered on the WorldPay system over a secure SSL connection.

The WorldPay system uses a combination of both established and innovative techniques to ensure the security and integrity of all sensitive data, including highly encrypted transmission of data using complicated logarithm combinations.

Are there any additional fees or ongoing costs?

No. There are absolutely no hidden extras or ongoing costs. The Companies House Incorporation fee is already included in each of our packages. It is entirely up to you if you would like to order any of the optional products and services, such as our registered office address facility.

Please note however that in situations where the documentation will be delivered overseas there may be an additional carriage to cover this.

Can I change my order?

Because we lodge your company electronically, it is not possible to make changes after you have made payment and your application has been submitted. It is however possible to make changes through Companies House after your new company has been incorporated using the Web Filing service.

What restrictions are there on the number of shares I can create, their value and how they are distributed?

The system allows you to create as many shares as you like with a nominal value from 1p to £1000 or more (The recommended nominal share value is £1).

All the shares are issued upon incorporation to the shareholders. There is no longer any such thing as an authorised share capital, this simplifies the process of issuing new shares in the future as you can just issue the shares without worrying about an arbitrary limit that needs to be changed first.

How are the documents signed?

The documents created through the system are signed and authenticated by use of a digital signature. The digital signature is created by combining three pieces of personal information to produce a 9-digit code. Each director, secretary and shareholder must provide a digital signature based on three questions: town of birth, eye colour and Mother’s maiden name. The signature is then generated from stringing together the first three characters of each answer to create a unique 9-digit code, as illustrated below.

The completed signature is a personal declaration for Companies House to acknowledge the individual as an officer of the company.

I don’t live in the UK. Can I still set up a new company?

Yes. The officers of a company may be resident outside the UK.

I need a UTR number, where can I get this?

Once you have formed a new company the details you provide will be forwarded on to HM Revenue and Customs. HMRC will then generate a UTR or Unique Tax Reference number for your company. You will be notified of this number within 2-4 weeks of the incorporation date. HMRC will write a letter (CT41) to the registered office address of all new companies to ensure their records are accurate on confirmation of which the UTR number can be supplied.

Where can I find information on your terms and conditions, privacy policy and data protection?

Please click here for our current terms and conditions.

For an up to date privacy statement including data protection information, please click here.

Who can I contact if I have any problems setting up my company?

You can contact us by sending us an e-mail at [email protected]