As we’re an authorised company formation agent, registering your business couldn’t be simpler:
Got burning questions about limited company registration? Don’t worry, we’ve got the answers.
Our mission is to help those who work for themselves. That’s why we’ve made company formations easier than ever, letting you get back to growing your business.
We’ll register your company and open your business bank account in just four easy steps.
We’ll take care of your Companies House registration fee – plus, there are no monthly fees for your account.
Your business account should be open in minutes, and your company is usually registered the same day.
We’re a Companies House authorised formation agent with a secure integration, so you’re in safe hands.
Time to turn your idea into reality, in one streamlined process, you can register your UK limited company and open a Tide account. Better yet, we’ll take care of the registration cost with Companies House, so it won’t cost you a penny. What you’ll need to register your company
Use our search tool to instantly check if your company name is available.
This will be where official communications are sent, for example, letters from Companies House. The address must be in the UK or you can opt for a Tide ‘virtual office address’.
You’ll need the name, nationality, date of birth, occupation, and address of the director. If there’s more than one director or shareholders, you can add this later directly with Companies House.
From sole traders to freelancers and limited companies, we’re all about saving small businesses time and money, so you can get back to doing what you love.
Create and pay invoices, set spending limits for your team with company expense cards, upload receipts, and tag transactions with your own labels - it’s all in there.
Connect in seconds and synch with a range of popular accounting software, including Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, and Crunch.
As a Tide member, you’ll unlock exclusive discounts and bonuses all designed for small businesses. Enjoy free subscriptions, freelance offers and get savings on training.
Yes. If you have an existing Tide account you may still register a new limited company through Tide. You should use a new email address when applying for a second account.
If Companies House rejects your application, then Tide won’t be able to open a business current account for you.
Yes, you’ll need our Android or iOS app to finish the application. Unlike traditional high street banks, you can activate your account from your fingertips, without needing to book an appointment and physically visit a high street branch.
This isn’t possible at the moment – for legal reasons the applicant needs to sign the terms and conditions themselves.
When you register a company, Companies House will automatically inform HMRC. HMRC will send a letter to your registered address with your UTR number. It can take up to three weeks for this letter to be received. If you do not receive your UTR number within 3 weeks, you can contact HMRC directly.
Prescribed particulars form part of the ‘statement of capital’. Tide uses the standard set of prescribed particulars suggested by Companies House, which states that each shareholder will;
A statement of capital is a snapshot of a limited company’s issued share capital at a given time. Private Companies limited by shares must complete a statement of capital and initial shareholdings as part of the application to incorporate. Tide will automatically create a statement of capital for you when you register your company through our service.
The statement of capital must include:
A memorandum of association is a legal statement signed by all initial shareholders agreeing to form the company. It confirms that all parties involved wish to form a company and agree to take at least one share. Tide will automatically create a memorandum of association for you when you register your company through our service. If you have formed a company and are looking for your memorandum of association, it is available on the Companies House register.
All limited companies must have articles of association. These are rules for directors and shareholders about how to run the company. Model articles are a standard set of rules that have been written to suit most companies and Tide will use model articles of association when registering your company. The model articles provided by Companies House may be found here.
We email your documents to you. If you need a printed copy, you can request them directly from Companies House.
Companies House usually create a company within 3-6hrs, but they don’t work on weekends so if you apply on a Friday night you might have to wait a little longer. As soon as it’s created, we’ll send you an email with your certificate of incorporation.
You’ll receive your certificate of incorporation via email once registered. Keep this safe. You can request additional documents from Companies House for £1.
No, your registered office must be in the same region as the company you’re trying to create. For example, to create a Scottish limited company you must have a Scottish address as your registered office address.
Yes, you can add or change parts of your company information after registration, by contacting Companies House directly.
Not unless your company turnover exceeds the VAT threshold of £85,000. It can still be beneficial for some businesses to register for VAT even if their turnover is less than the threshold. You can find more on the gov.uk website.
No, it’s not, and for that reason we don’t submit one, but you can always appoint one later by contacting Companies House directly.
Anybody who becomes a director or officer of a company must be prepared for some of their details to be publicly available. You can read more about the Companies House public record on their website.
Yes, every UK limited company must have at least one director, which will be you. You can appoint and remove directors at any time through Companies House.
As a director, you’re legally responsible for running the company and reporting to HMRC and Companies House. You can hire other people to manage some of these things day-to-day (for example, an accountant) but you’re still legally responsible for your company’s records, accounts and performance. We are currently only able to set up limited companies with a single director (yourself).
Yes! Tide pays the £12 registration fee to Companies House on your behalf.
You’ll need these items:
Yes. We’re an authorized formation agent of Companies House, and we’re securely integrated with them, so you can trust us to register your limited company.
Once you’ve brainstormed and chosen your company name, simply use our search tool at the top of this page, and we’ll instantly tell you if it’s available. When you’ve settled on a name that’s available, we’ll register it for you as part of the simple four-step process.
Currently Tide will only accept names that don’t require additional documentation. In other words, if you apply directly with Companies House then it’s possible to register a name such as “Kim’s Doctors Surgery”, however, you would need to provide additional information to Companies House to prove that you are indeed a registered doctor. Tide doesn’t currently offer the ability to send accompanying documentation, and so only phrases that require no ‘proof’ can be submitted.
Your name, nationality, occupation, month and year of birth, the ‘registered office address’ of your business and the ‘service address’ of directors. As you progress through the application, we’ll point out which parts will show on the public record. Your home address will only show on the public record if you choose it as your registered address. You can learn more by looking at the Companies House website.
Yes, you can! With our simple registration process, all you need is the correct information and we’ll register your new company with Companies House for you.
For now, you can only create a limited company, which is limited by shares. You won’t be able to create any other type of registered company.
You can find information on the gov.uk website on how to restrict the disclosure of your information.
Companies House requires limited companies to have either Limited or LTD at the end of the company name. If you don’t include LTD or Limited in your search, we will automatically add LTD. There is no difference between the name endings Limited or Ltd, except for how they look.
There is no difference between the name endings ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’, except for how they look. Companies House requires limited companies to have either Limited or Ltd at the end of the company name. At the moment Tide is pre-populating all applications with Ltd, but we’ll offer the ‘Limited’ option in the future.
You’ll have yearly responsibilities such as your tax return and annual return plus ongoing tasks like keeping records of the company and keeping a register of PSC’s (People with significant control). Full details can be found on the gov.uk website.
Not on paper – it’s all done online with a digital signature to make things simple. No printing or scanning required!
It depends. In many cases, Companies House will incorporate your company within 1 business day. The majority of businesses are incorporated within 48 hours. Please note that Companies House does not work on weekends so if you send an application on a Friday, it will take longer.
You find the contact details for Companies House at gov.uk/contact-companies-house
Companies House is a government department, like HMRC or DVLA. Tide is authorised by Companies House to make an application on your behalf, meaning we can set up a limited company for you.
In some cases, we will be unable to offer you a business current account. Sometimes, we will already submitted your application to Companies House. In this case, you will have an incorporated company but no Tide account. In other cases, we will withhold the submission to Companies House – in this instance, it would still be worthwhile trying to register a limited company directly with Gov.uk. Please watch your inbox for the status of your application and advisable next steps.
No, you can also set up a Tide business current account if you’re a sole trader, simply open an account.
The company formations service is only available to UK residents at this time. You can apply for a Tide account (without the company formations service) from outside of the UK. In some cases, we may have to complete additional checks in order to process your application to open a business current account.
When you register a limited company through Tide you’re also applying for a Tide business current account. To complete the application you’ll need one of the following: either your passport, drivers licence or ID card.
No. We’ve streamlined the process, so in one simple form, you’ll form your UK limited company and open a Tide business current account. We’ll cover the cost of incorporation with Companies House to help you get started.
Find answers to all our most frequently asked questions and how to contact our Member Support team.
