Information Needed to Register a Company (Checklist)

To register a limited company in the UK you need ten pieces of information: a company name, a registered office address, a registered email address, SIC codes, director details, each director’s personal code, shareholder and share details, people with significant control, articles of association and a lawful purpose statement. Getting these ready before you start is the difference between a company registered in about 24 hours and an application that comes back with questions. This checklist explains each item, what Companies House checks and the details people most often get wrong.

The Company Registration Checklist

1. A Company Name That Can Be Registered

Your name cannot be the same as a name already on the register, and Companies House treats small differences such as punctuation, “UK” or a plural as the same name. It must usually end in “Limited” or “Ltd”, cannot be offensive, and needs permission if it contains a sensitive word such as “Accredited”, “Bank” or “Royal”. Check your idea with our free company name checker before you go further, and read how to choose a company name for the full rules.

2. A Registered Office Address

Every company needs a registered office: the official address for letters from Companies House, HMRC and the courts. It must be a physical address in the same part of the UK as the company. A company registered in England and Wales needs an address in England or Wales. A PO Box on its own is not accepted. The address is public, so if you would use your home, consider a registered office service instead. The rules are set out in our guide to registered office address rules.

3. A Registered Email Address

Since 4 March 2024 every company must give Companies House an “appropriate email address”: one where emails sent by Companies House would reach someone acting for the company. It is not published on the register. Use an inbox someone checks; Companies House uses it for reminders and queries.

4. What the Company Does: SIC Codes

You describe the company’s business with one to four Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. Pick codes for what the company will actually do, not everything it might do one day. If you are not sure which code fits, search in plain words with our SIC code finder. You can change SIC codes later in your confirmation statement.

5. Director Details

For each director, Companies House asks for:

• Full name and any former names used for business in the last 20 years
• Date of birth (only the month and year are published)
• Nationality, occupation and country of residence
• Home address, which is kept off the public register
• A service address, which is public and can be different from the home address

A director must be an individual aged at least 16 and not disqualified. Directors can live anywhere in the world. If you want your home address kept off the public record, use a director service address.

6. Each Director’s Personal Code

This is the item most people do not expect. Since 18 November 2025, every individual director must verify their identity with Companies House before the company is registered. Verification gives them an 11-character personal code, and the application must include it for every director. A director can verify through GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. Our guide to identity verification for company formation covers the timing in detail.

With CorpAssist you do not have to arrange this separately: when you order a company, we arrange identity verification for each director who still needs it, through our Companies House-registered ACSP partner, as part of the same order.

7. Shareholders and Shares

You need to decide:

• Who the shareholders are (individuals or companies) and their names and addresses
• How many shares each person holds
• The value of each share, for example £1 or £0.01
• The class of shares (most small companies use one class of ordinary shares)

A common setup is 100 ordinary shares of £1 each, so percentages are easy to read. The guide to shares and shareholders explains how to choose.

8. People With Significant Control

A person with significant control (PSC) is anyone who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove most of the directors, or otherwise has significant influence or control. In a one-person company, the founder is usually the only PSC. PSCs who are individuals also need to verify their identity: at incorporation or within 14 days of it. See PSC verification explained.

9. Articles of Association

The articles are the company’s internal rules: how directors make decisions, how shares are transferred and how meetings work. Most new private companies use the standard model articles, which suit a typical owner-managed company. You only need bespoke articles for unusual arrangements, such as different share rights for investors.

10. The Lawful Purpose Statement

When you apply, the subscribers confirm that the company is being formed for a lawful purpose and that the people named as directors have agreed to act. This is a short statement, but it is a legal confirmation, so check the application before you submit it.

Common Mistakes That Delay Registration

1. An unverified director. Without a personal code for every director, the application cannot go through.
2. A name that is “the same as” another. Adding “UK”, “Group” or punctuation does not make a name different.
3. A registered office in the wrong part of the UK, or an address you are not allowed to use.
4. Names that do not match the identity documents, for example a missing middle name.
5. Shares and PSCs that do not add up, such as a 50% shareholder who is not listed as a PSC.

More detail is in why company formations are rejected. Once the company is registered, follow what to do after registering a company. For the official list, see GOV.UK’s guide to setting up a private limited company.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to start? See company formation packages, or forming a UK company from abroad.

Rules checked against GOV.UK on 30 October 2026. CorpAssist is an independent commercial service and is not Companies House or GOV.UK.