How to Register a Company in the UK: A Complete Guide for 2026

I've registered three companies. The first one took me an entire weekend because I overthought every decision. The second took about 40 minutes. The third took 20 minutes while I was on a train.

The process genuinely is that simple. But there are a few things that trip people up — mostly because the guides they're reading are outdated. And right now, a lot of them are badly outdated.

Here's the thing: Companies House changed its fees on 1 February 2026. Online registration now costs £100, up from £50. The annual confirmation statement went from £34 to £50. And there's a new mandatory identity verification requirement that didn't exist before November 2025. If the guide you're reading still says £12 to register a company, close it. It's wrong by about five years.

This is what the process actually looks like in 2026.

Table of Contents

1. Do you actually need to register?

2. Sole trader or limited company — just pick one

3. The actual registration process, step by step

4. The new ID verification thing

5. Registering by post (if you really want to)

6. Formation agents — worth it or waste of money?

7. Setting up as a sole trader instead

8. Corporation Tax and PAYE — don't skip this bit

9. What everything costs

10. Tax stuff you need to know

11. Mistakes I've made (so you don't have to)

12. Questions people ask me constantly

Do You Actually Need to Register?

Short answer: probably yes.

If you're freelancing, doing a bit of consulting on the side, or selling things on Etsy, you can start as a sole trader and just register with HMRC. No Companies House involved. It's free and takes about ten minutes.

But if any of these apply to you, register a limited company:

You're planning to hire anyone (even one person). You want to raise investment at any point. You're going to be working with larger companies who'll want to see a company number on your invoices. You want your personal stuff — house, savings, car — protected if things go wrong. Or you just want to look like a proper business rather than a bloke with a laptop.

The tax efficiency argument is real too. Corporation Tax on profits up to £50,000 is 19%. A sole trader earning the same amount is paying 20% income tax plus National Insurance on top. The gap gets wider the more you earn. But I'll be honest — at very low income levels (under £30,000 profit), there's not much in it, and the admin overhead of running a limited company might not be worth the hassle.

My general rule: if you're testing an idea and might give up in three months, start as a sole trader. If you're building something you intend to stick with, go Ltd from day one. The transition from sole trader to limited company later is doable but annoying.

Sole Trader or Limited Company — Just Pick One

I'm not going to spend 2,000 words on every possible business structure. Here's what you need to know.

Sole trader. You and the business are the same thing. Simple to set up, minimal paperwork, but you're personally on the hook for everything. Register with HMRC, file a Self-Assessment tax return once a year, done.

Limited company (Ltd). Separate legal entity. Your personal assets are protected. More credibility with clients and investors. Better tax options as you grow. But more admin — you file annual accounts with Companies House, pay Corporation Tax, and keep proper statutory records.

Partnership. Two or more people sharing profits and liability. Each partner files their own tax return. Personally I'd avoid general partnerships for anything serious because there's no liability protection — if your partner makes a terrible financial decision, you're equally on the hook. If you want a partnership, make it an LLP.

LLP (Limited Liability Partnership). Same partnership flexibility but with liability protection. Popular with law firms and accountancy practices. Register with Companies House.

CIC (Community Interest Company). For social enterprises. Profits get reinvested into the community, not distributed to shareholders. You need to register with the CIC Regulator as well as Companies House, and there's an asset lock preventing you from stripping money out.

Most people reading this should register a limited company. That's what the rest of this guide focuses on.

The Actual Registration Process, Step by Step

Pick a name

This sounds fun until you discover every good name is already taken.

Check the Companies House name checker first. Then check the UK Intellectual Property Office trademark database — because a name can be available at Companies House but trademarked by another business, and that's a fight you'll lose. Then check whether the .co.uk and .com domains are available. I'd actually recommend buying the domain before you register the company, because losing a good domain to a squatter while you're filling in paperwork is incredibly frustrating.

Some words need special permission — "Royal," "Bank," "Authority," "Government" and similar. You can't call yourself "Royal James Tech Ltd" without approval, and you probably won't get it.

One thing people don't realise: if you want to register without "Limited" at the end of your name, you can't do it online. It has to go by post, and you need to prove the company has charitable or community-focused objectives. Most founders don't need this.

Choose a registered office address

Every company needs one. This is where official mail from Companies House and HMRC goes, and it's publicly visible on the register. Anyone can look it up.

I used my home address for my first company. Mistake. Not because anything bad happened, but because I later realised any random person could find my flat from the Companies House website. Some founders are fine with this. I wasn't.

Virtual office services solve the problem for about £10–£50 a month. You get a professional-looking address, your home stays private, and post gets forwarded or scanned. It's one of those costs that feels unnecessary until you realise your home address is sitting on a public database.

Appoint directors and shareholders

You need at least one director (aged 16+) and at least one shareholder. The director and shareholder can be the same person, so a one-person company is completely fine.

Directors don't need to be UK residents. Foreign nationals can be directors of UK companies. Though I will say — some banks get funny about opening accounts if there's no UK-based director. It's not a legal requirement, but it can create friction with banking.

Declare your PSCs

PSC stands for "persons with significant control." Anyone who holds more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or who can appoint or remove directors, is a PSC and must be declared during registration. Their details go on the public register.

For a single-founder company, you're the PSC. For a company with two 50/50 co-founders, you're both PSCs. Not complicated, but you do need to get the details right because they're checked during banking due diligence.

Sort your shares

You need to issue at least one share. Most founders go with 100 ordinary shares at £0.01 each — total share capital of £1. This gives you a clean percentage structure if you later bring in a co-founder or investor (50 shares each = 50/50 split, etc.).

Don't overthink this. You can create fancy share classes with different voting rights and dividend entitlements later if you need to. At incorporation, keep it simple.

Prepare your documents

You need three things.

Form IN01 — your registration application. It includes your company name, registered office, director and shareholder details, share structure, and a SIC code (a five-digit number that categorises what your business does — you can look these up on the Companies House website).

Memorandum of Association — a short legal statement signed by all shareholders confirming they want to form the company.

Articles of Association — the rules for running the company. You can use Companies House's standard model articles, which are fine for most startups. Custom articles make sense if you have specific governance requirements, but honestly, most founders use the defaults and deal with custom provisions later when they actually raise investment.

Pay and submit

Online: £100. Processed within 24 hours, often within a few hours.

Same-day: £156. Software filing only, must be submitted before 3 PM.

Postal: £124. Takes 8–10 working days.

Online is the obvious choice unless you have a specific reason for the others.

Get your Certificate of Incorporation

Once approved, you get a certificate confirming your company exists, with a unique Company Registration Number (CRN). This is the document you'll need to open a business bank account, apply for loans or grants, and prove your company is legit.

The New ID Verification Thing

This catches people off guard because it's relatively new.

Since 18 November 2025, every proposed director and PSC must complete identity verification with Companies House before a company can be registered. This wasn't required before, and a lot of older guides don't mention it.

You verify by going through GOV.UK One Login — upload a photo ID (passport or driving licence), take a selfie, and the system matches them. It's like setting up a bank account on your phone. Takes about five minutes.

Once you've verified, you get a personal code from Companies House. Keep it somewhere safe. You can reuse it for any future company formations or directorships, so you only go through the process once.

If you're registering with co-founders, they each need to verify independently before you can submit the incorporation. This is the step that creates delays if someone doesn't do it in advance. Get everyone verified before you sit down to register.

For existing companies: all current directors and PSCs need to verify by 18 November 2026 at the latest. Do it now. Don't wait for the deadline.

Registering by Post (If You Really Want To)

Download Form IN01 from the Companies House website. Fill it in. Write a cheque for £124 made out to "Companies House." Post it. Wait 8–10 working days.

Honestly, the only reasons to register by post are if you want to omit "Limited" from your company name (which requires postal application and extra documentation), or if you have a specific aversion to doing things online. The cost is higher, the process is slower, and there's more room for errors because you can't get real-time validation of your information.

All directors still need to complete ID verification before the postal application can be processed.

Formation Agents — Worth It or Waste of Money?

Companies like 1st Formations, Rapid Formations, and Companies Made Simple will handle the whole process for you. They typically charge £15–£100 on top of the Companies House fee and bundle extras like a registered office address and business bank account introductions.

Are they worth it? Depends on your confidence level.

If you've never done this before and the idea of filling in Form IN01 yourself makes you anxious, a formation agent will walk you through it and catch mistakes before submission. The extra cost is modest and you get some hand-holding.

If you've registered a company before, or you're comfortable following a step-by-step process online, you probably don't need one. Companies House's own registration system is genuinely user-friendly. It's not some arcane government portal from 2003 — it actually works well.

Business platforms like Tide, ANNA Money, and SeedLegals also offer company formation integrated into their own services. Useful if you plan to use them for banking or legal anyway, since it keeps everything in one place.

Setting Up as a Sole Trader Instead

If you've decided a limited company isn't right for you yet, here's how to register as self-employed.

Go to gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment and create a Government Gateway account. The whole thing takes about ten minutes. You need to do this by 5 October in your second tax year after starting — so if you started freelancing in June 2025, register by 5 October 2026.

HMRC will post you a 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number within about ten days. You'll need this for your annual tax return and for various things like mortgage applications and proving self-employment to clients.

Get a separate bank account. You don't legally have to, but mixing your personal spending with business income is a fast track to a messy tax return and an irritated accountant. Digital banks like Starling and Monzo offer free business accounts you can set up in minutes.

Keep records of everything. Income, expenses, invoices, receipts, mileage. HMRC can ask to see records going back five years, so store them properly — not in a shoebox under your desk. Cloud accounting software (Xero, FreeAgent, QuickBooks) makes this painless and will also handle Making Tax Digital requirements.

Corporation Tax and PAYE — Don't Skip This Bit

I'm putting this in its own section because people consistently forget about it and then get caught out six months later.

Corporation Tax

When you register a company online, HMRC usually gets notified automatically and sets you up for Corporation Tax. Unless your company is dormant (not trading), you don't need to do anything extra at the point of registration.

Within a few days, HMRC will post you a UTR for the company. When it arrives, log into your Government Gateway business account and add Corporation Tax as a service. This connects your company to HMRC's systems so you can file returns and track deadlines.

Even if you're not going to start trading for a few months, set this up as soon as the UTR arrives. People who put it off tend to forget about it entirely, and then miss their first filing deadline. The penalty for late Corporation Tax returns starts at £100 and escalates.

PAYE

If you're hiring anyone — even yourself as a director taking a salary — you need to register for PAYE. A lot of founders don't realise that paying yourself a salary triggers PAYE obligations. Dividends are different (they don't go through PAYE), but salary does.

You can register for PAYE during the company formation process on many platforms, or do it separately through HMRC afterwards. Once registered, you'll get PAYE reference numbers and can set up payroll through software like Xero, Sage, or QuickBooks Payroll.

The employer NIC rate is 15% on earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold. The Employment Allowance (£10,500 for eligible employers) can offset this, but you need to claim it through your payroll software. A lot of small businesses miss this and overpay.

What Everything Costs

Here's a realistic picture of first-year costs. Some of these are mandatory. Some are optional but sensible. Some you can skip entirely.

Company registration: £100 online. That's the Companies House fee. If you use a formation agent, add £15–£100 for their service.

Confirmation statement: £50/year online, £110 postal. This is your annual filing to confirm company details haven't changed.

Business bank account: Free with Starling, Monzo Lite, Mettle, and Tide Free. Traditional banks offer 12–24 months free, then £7–£12/month. I'd recommend starting with a free digital account unless you specifically need a traditional bank for lending.

Accountant: £300–£1,000/year for a small business accountant. You don't legally need one, but Corporation Tax, VAT, and annual accounts are complicated enough that most founders hire one eventually. Cloud accounting software (£10–£30/month) can delay this cost if you're comfortable managing your own books.

Registered office (virtual): £10–£50/month if you don't want to use your home address. I think it's worth it.

VAT registration: Free via HMRC. Only mandatory if turnover exceeds £90,000. Voluntary registration below that threshold lets you reclaim VAT on purchases, which can be useful if you have high business expenses.

Business insurance: Depends wildly on your business. Public liability from about £50/year. Professional indemnity from £100/year. Employers' liability is legally required if you hire staff (from about £100/year).

Trademark: £170 for one class at the UK Intellectual Property Office. Worth doing once you're confident in your brand name — it's cheap protection against someone copying you.

Domain and website: Domain from £10–£20/year. Hosting from £5–£25/month. You can get away with a simple one-page site for much less than people think.

A realistic first-year budget for a solo founder registering a limited company and doing things properly: roughly £500–£2,000, depending on whether you hire an accountant, use a virtual office, and register for a trademark. You could do it for under £200 if you cut everything to the bone.

Tax Stuff You Need to Know

I'll keep this brief because tax deserves its own guide. But here are the essentials.

Corporation Tax: 19% on profits up to £50,000. 25% on profits above £250,000. A sliding marginal rate in between. You must pay within 9 months and 1 day of your financial year-end and file a CT600 return with HMRC.

Income tax (sole traders): Standard brackets. 0% up to £12,570. 20% up to £50,270. 40% up to £125,140. 45% above that. Plus National Insurance on top. Self-Assessment return due by 31 January each year.

VAT: Register when turnover hits £90,000. You charge 20% on most goods and services and file quarterly returns. The Flat Rate Scheme is worth looking into for smaller businesses — you pay a fixed percentage of turnover instead of tracking VAT on every individual transaction.

Annual accounts: Limited companies file these with Companies House and HMRC. They summarise your profits, losses, and assets. Miss the deadline and the fines are automatic.

PAYE: If you employ staff, you deduct tax and NI from their wages and report to HMRC each pay period via Real Time Information (RTI). Employer NIC is 15% above the £5,000 threshold. Employment Allowance of £10,500 can offset this.

Mistakes I've Made (So You Don't Have To)

I used my home address as my registered office. It went on the public register. I only realised when a random person mentioned they'd looked up my company and knew where I lived. Switched to a virtual office immediately. Cost me £15/month, which felt annoying until I realised how much more annoying the alternative was.

I forgot to file my confirmation statement on time. Got a £150 fine. Completely avoidable. I now set calendar reminders three months before every Companies House deadline. Boring, but effective.

I mixed personal and business spending for the first two months. My accountant's reaction when I handed over my bank statements was... educational. Open a business bank account in your first week. Not your second month. Your first week.

I didn't register for VAT until HMRC reminded me. Turns out when your turnover crosses £90,000, HMRC notices — and they backdate the registration. Which means you owe VAT on sales you've already made at prices that didn't include it. Not fun. If you're growing fast, register early.

I picked a SIC code at random. This one's minor, but SIC codes do matter for some grant applications and industry-specific compliance. Spend two minutes picking the right one rather than clicking the first option that looks vaguely relevant.

Questions People Ask Me Constantly

How much does it cost to register a company in 2026? £100 online. £124 by post. £156 for same-day. These fees changed on 1 February 2026. Formation agents charge extra on top. Budget £100–£200 depending on your approach.

How long does it actually take? Online: usually a few hours, sometimes 24 hours. Post: 8–10 working days. Same-day is same-day if you submit before 3 PM. The bottleneck is usually getting everyone's ID verification done, not the Companies House processing.

Can I register if I'm not a UK resident? Yes. No nationality restrictions. You need a UK registered office address (virtual office is fine) and all directors must complete identity verification. Some banks may require a UK-based director for account opening, but it's not a legal requirement for registration.

Do I need to verify my identity now? Yes. Since November 2025, all directors and PSCs must verify through GOV.UK One Login before a company can be incorporated. It's a one-time process. You get a personal code you can reuse.

Sole trader or limited company? Under £30K profit and low risk? Sole trader is fine. Planning to grow, hire, or raise money? Go Ltd. Most people asking this question should probably just register a limited company and not think about it too hard.

Do I need an accountant? Not to register. But for ongoing Corporation Tax, VAT, and annual accounts — probably yes, unless you're very comfortable with numbers and willing to learn the rules. An accountant costs £300–£1,000/year. A mistake on your Corporation Tax return can cost a lot more.

Do I need a business bank account? Limited company: yes, legally. Sole trader: no, legally. But practically, yes. Your future self will thank you when tax return time comes around and your bank statements aren't a mix of client invoices and Deliveroo orders.

Is self-employed the same as registering a company? No. Self-employed (sole trader) = register with HMRC. Limited company = register with Companies House. Different structures, different tax, different liability, different admin. They're not interchangeable.

What's the confirmation statement? An annual filing (£50 online) that confirms your company details are correct. Miss it and you get fined automatically. Set a reminder.

Can I drop "Limited" from my company name? Only if your company has specific charitable or community objectives. You can't do it online — it requires postal application and extra documentation. Most commercial businesses keep "Ltd" in the name.

James Beresford-Morgan is co-founder of Startup Networks. He has registered multiple companies, used both his home address and virtual offices as registered offices, been fined once for a late confirmation statement, and still can't remember the correct SIC code for what Startup Networks actually does without looking it up.

Going through this process yourself? Chat to other founders who've done it in our forum, or check our grants directory for funding options once you're registered.

Last updated: May 2026. Fees verified against the Companies House schedule effective 1 February 2026. ID verification requirements confirmed against ECCT Act provisions. Tax rates current for 2025/26 and 2026/27.