Ask YC: Recommendations on company formation in the UK | Hacker News Reader

Ask YC: Recommendations on company formation in the UK

5 pointswheels6 comments

Because of the much streamlined process of company formation and the fact that potential future investors prefer English over German law (Ltd. vs. GmbH, and EU statutes that allow corporations from one EU member state to have their home office in another) we've decided to incorporate in the UK.

What we're looking for recommendations for now are services / lawyers that some of you might have used in the past and have had good experiences with.

A side point of interest would be a good book on the specific obligations that we'll need to fulfill over time when running an Ltd.

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Here's a useful book: Setting Up and Running a Limited Company: A Comprehensive Guide to Forming and Operating a Company as a Director and Shareholder by Robert Browning (Paperback - 1 April 2003)

As for services, I went with http://www.eacbs.com/ for financial shortcuts like a printable PDF certificate (print out and frame, for instance), and I used HSBC for my bank account.

Your secretary can be anyone, which again saves money.

[edit] Companies House (the body that runs them in the UK) are great, they send reminders and instructions, and you can do most of it online. IE, when the first year was almost up, they sent me detailed instructions on how to file my accounts.

I saw that book when searching but wondered if the 2006 legal reform might have rendered it a bit out of date. Do you know off hand if the differences are significant enough for us to bother paying attention to?

The 2006 legal reform hasn't become law yet, and won't for at least a year.

I was going to read the 2006 law but it's a lot to read.

My guess is the basics will still apply, and they'll probably reissue the book WHEN the law changes.

I don't know if you'll find this helpful but you might consider looking past the UK to Ireland. Lower corporate tax, common legal history, celtic tiger, etc etc.

The problem is, despite the similarities with UK law, most investors, accountants and lawyers aren't familiar with the idiosyncrasies of Irish law. Really, they're just warming to dealing with British corporations.

Try http://www.nationalbusinessregister.co.uk/home.htm I used them to form a company a couple of months ago, they provided pretty good service. Hope it helps

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