Company Formation · North West
Company formation in Garlands
Founders in Garlands often incorporate themselves in ten minutes and spend months fixing the result: wrong share classes, a home address on the public register, no Corporation Tax registration, a missed first confirmation statement. We set the company up to avoid all of that, for a fixed fee, and track the first-year deadlines for every company we form across North West.
from £49 · fixed, one-off
Next deadlines
- Companies House identity verification for directors and PSCs, phased in from 18 November 2025
- Confirmation statement due within 14 days of your review date, at least once every 12 months
- Companies House accounts due 9 months after your year end (a 31 December year end files by 30 September)
- Corporation Tax payment, 9 months and 1 day after your year end (a 31 December year end pays by 1 October)
Who this is for
Company Formation for Garlands
Anyone in Garlands starting a business as a limited company: contractors and consultants leaving employment, sole traders incorporating as profits grow, two or more founders who need the shareholding agreed properly, property investors setting up a company to hold rentals, and overseas founders who need a UK company with a UK registered office.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Company name check against the register and the sensitive-words rules before filing
- Incorporation at Companies House with articles, share structure and PSC register completed correctly
- Directors' identity verification guidance under the rules in force since November 2025
- Certificate of incorporation, memorandum, articles and share certificates delivered electronically
- Corporation Tax registration with HMRC and your Unique Taxpayer Reference, plus PAYE where included
- A first-year calendar: confirmation statement, accounts and tax deadlines diarised with reminders
How it works
Company Formation from Garlands, step by step
Tell us your situation
A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.
Fixed fee in writing
You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.
Send records, review the draft
Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.
We file, you get the receipts
Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.
Why IGI
Why Garlands businesses file with IGI
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Garlands clients know the fee for company formation before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in Garlands get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to company formation.
We serve Garlands remotely by design: records by WhatsApp or email, drafts back for approval, filing electronic. The saving on premises is passed to you in the fee for company formation.
A named person handles your company formation from Garlands and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
We explain company formation in the words Garlands business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
Nothing is filed for Garlands until you have reviewed and approved it. You see the draft, you ask questions, you sign off, then we submit and send you the receipt.
Local facts
About Garlands
Garlands is in North West, England. Income tax in England follows the UK rates: 20% basic to £50,270, 40% higher to £125,140 and 45% additional, with the personal allowance of £12,570 tapered away above £100,000. National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to property purchases.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Carleton, Cumberland | 0.6 mi | SW |
| Lambley Bank | 0.9 mi | N |
| Cumwainton | 1 mi | E |
| Petteril Bank | 1 mi | W |
| Durranhill | 1 mi | NW |
| Scotby | 1 mi | N |
| Oakbank, Cumberland | 1 mi | N |
| Harraby | 1 mi | NW |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Switching accountants
You can switch accountant at any point in the year. The new firm requests clearance and your records from the old one, which cannot withhold your own documents though it may hold its own working papers until its fees are settled. Agent authorisations with HMRC and Companies House are transferred, and the next deadline is picked up without a gap.
Closing a company
A solvent company that has finished its purpose can be dissolved by voluntary strike-off: form DS01 with a £13 Companies House fee, after three months without trading and with all debts paid, final accounts and tax return filed, and assets distributed. HMRC objects to any application where returns or tax are outstanding, so the sequence matters more than the form.
Employer National Insurance
Since April 2025 employer National Insurance has been 15% on earnings above a £5,000 secondary threshold, a substantial increase for small employers. The Employment Allowance rose to £10,500 at the same time to soften it for the smallest businesses. Directors deciding their own salary weigh this cost against the Corporation Tax deduction a salary provides.
Workplace pensions and auto-enrolment
Auto-enrolment duties begin the day you take on your first employee, not when the Pensions Regulator writes to you. Eligible staff must be enrolled, contributions paid every pay period and re-enrolment carried out every three years. Director-only companies without employment contracts are usually exempt. Fines for non-compliance are fixed and escalating.
Dormant companies
Dormancy is a status that is easy to lose. The strict rule is no accounting transactions other than share capital and Companies House fees, which means no bank account activity at all in practice. Fees should be paid personally by the director. A company that traded and has stopped becomes dormant only after its final trading accounts and tax return are filed and HMRC is told.
The trading and property allowances
Small side incomes are covered by two £1,000 allowances, one for trading and one for property, which remove the need to register or report income below that level. Once income exceeds £1,000, the allowance can be used in place of expenses, a choice worth making deliberately: a freelancer with £900 of costs is better off with the allowance, one with £3,000 is not.
Crypto records and reporting
Most crypto holders have taxable events they do not recognise, because every swap is a disposal even when no pounds change hands. The computation requires the complete transaction history from every exchange and wallet, pooled by asset with HMRC's matching rules applied. Exchange-generated tax reports are frequently wrong because they cannot see transfers between a user's own wallets.
Questions
Company Formation questions from Garlands
Can you form a company limited by guarantee or a dormant company?
Yes. Companies limited by guarantee, used by clubs, charities and community groups, are £49 with bespoke objects at £99. Dormant company formation, for protecting a name or holding a future business, is £29. Both carry the £100 Companies House fee and both have their own service pages.
What is the difference between a limited company and a sole trader?
A company is a separate legal person: it owns the business, owes the debts and pays Corporation Tax, and you take income as salary and dividends. A sole trader is personally liable and pays income tax on all profits. Companies cost more to run but can save tax at higher profits and protect personal assets. Our free comparison tool shows the numbers.
What happens after the company is formed?
You receive the certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, share certificates and the company's authentication code. Then the deadlines start: first confirmation statement within 12 months and 14 days, first accounts within 21 months, Corporation Tax payment nine months after the first year end. We diarise all of them and remind you.
Can I form a company if I live outside the UK?
Yes. A UK company can have non-resident directors and shareholders, but it must have a UK registered office and directors must complete identity verification. Our non-resident formation service at £149 includes the registered office; HMRC registrations and a bank account introduction are handled in the £219 and £349 packages.
Do directors need to verify their identity?
Yes. Since 18 November 2025 every new director and person with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House before or at incorporation, through GOV.UK One Login or an authorised agent. We tell you exactly how to do it and check that the verification is linked before we file.
Can I use my home address?
You can, but it becomes public on the Companies House register as the registered office and as your service address. Most founders prefer not to. Our registered office service at £69 a year provides a London address for official post, and the £149 formation package includes the first year.
Do you have an office in Garlands?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Garlands and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for company formation is the same in Garlands as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is company formation in Garlands really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Garlands pays and what a client in any other part of England pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.
Ready to fix your fee in Garlands?
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.