Company trading disclosures |
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| Introduction |
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| This article will be useful reading for anyone with an interested in any UK company, including companies carrying out business under a name that is not their registered name |
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| From 1 October 2008, new rules will unify and replace the various regulations setting out the trading disclosures that incorporated companies must make to show their legal identity. Some time ago, it became a requirement that companies had to display their company name, registered address and registration number on any correspondence to clients or customers, including on e-mail correspondence as well as on their website. The same is still applicable; however, the precise details have been changed slightly as follows by the Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008; Directive 2003/58/EC. |
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| Request for information |
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| When any person you deal with in the course of business, requests in writing any of the following, you must respond within five days: |
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- The address of your registered office or any other place where that person can inspect company records;
- The type of company records you keep at these locations;
- If the name of any of a company's directors appears in a letter - other than in the text or as a signatory, you must then include the names of all directors in that letter.
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| Display of signage |
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| You must display the company's registered name at its registered office and inspection place(s), and any other location at which you carry on business. The signs must be in a prominent position so visitors can read them with ease. Companies may be exempt from this requirement where: |
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- They have never traded – that is, they have been dormant since incorporation;
- The location is primarily a domestic location.
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| Shared premises |
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| Where a business property is shared by six or more companies, each company is only required to display its registered name for at least 15 continuous seconds at least once every three minutes using an electronic notice-board. |
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| Business correspondence |
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| You must display your company name on business letters, notices, official publications, and websites. |
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| You must also display your company's registered number and the address of its registered office on your electronic and paper documents, including emails, invoices, receipts, order forms and websites. You do not have to do so on every page of your website, but must place this information so that it can be easily found and read. |
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| VAT numbers and details |
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| VAT numbers and VAT details do not have to be supplied under the Companies Act 2006. You may want to check the point with HM Revenue & Customs. |
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| Non-compliance |
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| Enforcement is carried out by Companies House and local Trading Standards officers. |
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| If you do not comply you and your company commit and offence and could be subject to a fine. The current fine (June 2008) is up to £1,000. |
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| Summary |
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| On any business letters, order forms or websites, you must display the following: |
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- Registered company name;
- Place of registration (for example, Scotland, or England and Wales);
- Registered number;
- Address of registered office;
- If exempt from having "limited" as part of name, disclose it is a limited company;
- If a private community interest company, disclose this fact;
- If an investment company, disclose this fact;
- If there is reference to share capital, this must be a reference to paid-up share capital.
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| You must further display your registered name on: |
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- Notices & official publications;
- Bills of exchange;
- Promissory notes;
- Endorsements;
- Cheques;
- Orders for money, goods or services;
- Bills of parcels;
- Invoices & demands for payment;
- Receipts;
- Letters of credit;
- Applications for licences to carry on a trade or activity;
- All other forms of business correspondence/documentation;
- Signs at premises.
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