Doing business in England: legal changes affecting Ltd. companies

Companies House (the UK's business registry) is gradually introducing new rules under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCT Act) to better identify and communicate with businesses. Find out how to get everything right.

Registered office and email address

From March 2024, the rules for registered offices of companies doing business in the UK have tightened:

• A company must have a ' formal registered office' - that is, a specific physical address in the UK (including Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) that is subject to UK jurisdiction. It is not possible to use a P.O. Box;
• official correspondence delivered to this address must be received on the spot by an authorised person from the company so that the deliverer can make a record of non-delivery;
• you may choose a virtual registered office as your formal business address , provided it meets the above conditions.

For newly formed companies in England, care is taken to ensure that all the conditions are met, otherwise you will not form a company at all.

If an existing company still retains a PO Box as its formal address and does not notify any change, Companies House will move its registered office to one of its three addresses. Even if you are given a period of time to rectify this, moving your registered office can make it difficult to access important incoming mail and bring penalties and operational problems.

Similar logic now applies to email addresses - Companies House wants to make sure it knows who it is really dealing with on behalf of the company. And that all important correspondence (including that sent electronically) will be demonstrably delivered.

So remember:

• Check that your Ltd's registered office meets the formal address requirements,
• report to Companies House the official email address for communication with your company,
• report any changes to your address, whether email or real.

New financial penalties for non-compliance

New financial penalties also come into force from October 2024. These apply to all UK businesses that forget to file a 'confirmation statement' on time. However, in the future the sanctions will also apply to other areas.

A confirmation statement takes the form of a declaration by which a company confirms the validity and timeliness of all its key data. These include:

• the address of the company's registered office,
• the names and addresses of the shareholders,
• information on shareholders and ownership structure,
• a list of the activities carried out (these are determined by SIC codes),
• list of persons with decisive influence ( PSC - People with Significant Control).

Accurate identity verification and the consequences of failure to comply

Anyone setting up, managing, owning or otherwise controlling a company in the UK will need to verify their identity to prove that they are who they say they are.

The following rules are introduced to confirm identity:

• Verification will take place either through GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider ( ACSP),
• verification applies in particular to all Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) in your company and statutory bodies - make sure you have the correct details (e.g. date of birth) registered with Companies House for them, otherwise you will not go through the verification process.

If you fail to do so, you will be committing an offence for which you may be fined or even banned from setting up a new company. Without the identity of the managing directors or PSC being verified, your Ltd company will not be entitled to make any future filings.

Changes to filing accounts and tax returns

The online service that has been used to file accounts and corporation tax returns will be discontinued on 31 March 2026. This is due to the technical obsolescence of the service and will be replaced by a new software solution.

If you use the current online service to file documents with Companies House and HMRC (HMRC), you should:

• Download and save at least 3 years of your Ltd company' s accounting records - as you will lose access to all previous records after 1 April 2026;
• find a software provider that will meet your filing requirements for both Companies House and HMRC.

Setting up and running a Ltd. company without the hassle

Neither Czech nor UK laws are an obstacle for us. We have many years of experience in setting up Ltd. companies> in the UK - we will prepare the necessary documents, take care of the legal requirements and arrange everything conveniently remotely in accordance with the current legislation.

We can also help you with the subsequent administration - for example, filing a confirmation statement or preparing financial statements.

Contact us using the form below and we'll find a solution for your UK business too.

Contact information

Write to us and we’ll get back
to you within 24 hours.

+420 226 224 724

info@jake-james.cz

Revoluční 736/15, Praha 1

Follow us:

First name

Last name

Phone

E-mail

Message

I consent to the processing of my personal data

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Send