Accounting

Company Formation · Central London

Company formation in Old Bailey

Company formation for founders in Old Bailey: we incorporate your limited company at Companies House, usually within one working day, with the share structure and registered office done right and HMRC registrations handled. Our fee is £49 plus the £100 Companies House fee, fixed and published, the same in Old Bailey as across England.

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 Old Bailey

Anyone in Old Bailey 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 Old Bailey, step by step

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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 Old Bailey businesses file with IGI

The price for company formation is published on this page and is what a client in Old Bailey pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.

Deadline-first: the dates that matter for company formation are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Old Bailey client and chased before they arrive.

No appointments, no travel across Central London, no parking. Everything for company formation in Old Bailey happens online, with a real person on the other end during UK working hours.

You get one contact for company formation, not a queue. Old Bailey clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.

Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for Old Bailey comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.

You stay in control of company formation: drafts go to Old Bailey clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.

Local facts

About Old Bailey

Old Bailey is in Central London, within City of London, in the EC4M postcode district, 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.

Nearby places we also serve for company formation
PlaceDistanceDirection
Farringdon Within0.0 miNE
Ludgate Hill0.1 miS
Smithfield, City of London0.1 miN
Kenton West0.2 miNE
St Paul's, City of London0.2 miSE
Farringdon Without0.2 miW
Bread Street, City of London0.2 miSE
Castle Baynard0.2 miSW

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Switching accountants

Changing accountant is simpler than most people fear. You authorise the new firm, which writes to the old one for professional clearance and your records; the outgoing accountant must hand over your own documents and usually does within two weeks. The new firm registers as your agent with HMRC and picks up the next filing. There is no need to wait for a year end.

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.

Record keeping

Record keeping is a legal obligation with a penalty of up to £3,000 for failure, but its real value is in making every other filing cheaper and more defensible. Keep invoices, receipts, bank statements, mileage logs and any HMRC correspondence, digitally if you like, for five years after the relevant filing deadline for individuals and six years for companies and VAT.

Allowable expenses

The expenses sole traders most often miss are home working costs, claimed by actual proportion or HMRC's flat rate, the business share of phone and internet, mileage at 45p for the first 10,000 business miles, and training that maintains existing skills. The ones most often claimed wrongly are commuting, entertaining customers and clothes that could be worn outside work.

Crypto records and reporting

Crypto tax splits into capital gains on disposals and income on rewards, with different rates and different reporting. The £3,000 annual exempt amount and the 18% and 24% rates apply to gains; staking, mining and airdrop income is taxed at marginal income tax rates. HMRC's nudge letters to holders have increased sharply, and a voluntary disclosure before one arrives is treated far more leniently.

The 60-day property CGT return

The 60-day Capital Gains Tax return on residential property is the deadline landlords most often miss, because it falls outside the Self Assessment cycle and runs from completion, not exchange. Private residence relief for periods you lived in the property, plus the final nine months, reduces the gain. Penalties for a late return mirror Self Assessment, starting at £100.

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.

Questions

Company Formation questions from Old Bailey

How long does incorporation take?

Companies House usually approves online incorporations within 24 hours, often the same working day. We need your chosen name, the registered office address, details of each director and shareholder with their identity verification, the share structure and your SIC code. Most clients give us everything in one conversation.

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.

What share structure should I have?

For a single founder, one ordinary share of £1 is usual. For two or more, the split should reflect the agreed ownership and may use different share classes to allow different dividend payments. We discuss this before filing, because changing it later needs resolutions and filings. We also advise on whether a shareholders' agreement is worth having.

What is a SIC code and which one do I need?

The Standard Industrial Classification code describes what the company does and appears on the public register. You can have up to four. We pick the right ones from the official list for your trade. Changing them later is done through the confirmation statement, which is our £39 SIC change service.

Does the company need to register for Corporation Tax?

Yes, within three months of starting to trade. HMRC usually issues the company's Unique Taxpayer Reference by post shortly after incorporation. Registration for Corporation Tax is included in our £99 package and above; the formation-only package leaves it to you, and we tell you how.

Which deadlines matter most for company formation?

The next four dates that apply to company formation are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Old Bailey clients we diarise every one of them from the day you join and send reminders before each, so the work is done in good time rather than in the last week before a penalty.

How do I get started from Old Bailey?

Message us on WhatsApp or email with a sentence about your business and what you need. We reply in working hours with any questions and a fixed fee for company formation. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Old Bailey clients are set up within a day.

One message from Old Bailey, one fixed price

Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.

WhatsApp for a fixed quote