There's two aspects of running a business in question here. One is the bureaucracy of reporting your existence and finances to the Companies House and HMRC, the other is managing yourself and any employees.

The former has become so complex and time consuming that I opt for using services to do the job for me, whilst I concentrate on making a living. (or at least I hope to when and if I decide to go Freelance 100% of the time) It's much easier to have professional bureaucrats handle the bureaucracy than learn how to do it myself.

That being said I'll never do something without a bit of research, and the more transparent the service is the better. Communicating in simple terms what's being done with my information is important.