New company registration legislation
Posted 4 January 2007 at 2:50PM by Alexa Williamson in Managing your website
It's always good practice to display your company's registration details on your website and business email, but now it's the law. Yes, that's right - it's the law.
The First Company Law Amendment Directive came in on 1 January 2007, and you're now required to put the following information on your website and business emails:
- Company registration number
- Place of registration
- Registered office address
You're also required to have the following information on your website:
- The name, postal address and email address of the website's service provider.
- The name of any trade bodies or professional associations that the business is part of, including membership or registration details.
- Your VAT number, even if the website is not being used for e-commerce transactions.
- Any prices on the website must clearly state whether they are inclusive or exclusive of tax and delivery costs .
Further reading:
- How the Companies Act applies to businesses (Out-law.com)
- Companies Act 2006: First commencement act and regulations (Microsoft Word document) (DTI)
Tags: business website best practice, Companies Act, First Company Law Amendment Directive
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Comments
2. At January 8, 2007 1:03 AM, David Eason wrote:
My company isn't limited so does this also apply to me?, also I don't agree with this weather I'm limited or not, I don't see why people should have to publish such sensitive information in an age when people are constantly being told to destroy any information that could lead to Identity Fraud, or as per usual is this only being enforced with the consumer!!!!!
3. At January 8, 2007 9:56 AM, Alexa Williamson wrote:
Hi David, that is a good question. I have called Business Link for London and they recommended this page fir referebceL http://www.dti.gov.uk/bbf/co-act-2006/index.html
4. At January 8, 2007 10:45 AM, Andrew Moore wrote:
It's always been the case that a company, (that is a body which has limited liability and a separate entity from the individual), should have on the company's publications the basic information that is now required by law for web sites. A company should not be confused with a sole trader or partnership status.
If you already have a company then you should already know that this information should be displayed on your letter headings etc along with a directors listing, company's address etc. In addition to this your company's premises should also have a clearly defined notice for the public to view stating your company registration number along with other information that I will not go into here.
This allows notices to be served upon the company and for the public to know who they are dealing with. All quite reasonable I would have thought.
Trading Standards can inform you of the finer details of all this and are very helpful.
I see no problem with the information required as it should be in the public arena already.
What this will do is make it easier for the site owners to be traced in the event of fraudulent activities and make it more difficult to hide behind an anonymous web site. This has to be good for the consumer and in turn the online retailer.
Why should anyone be expected to buy from a site with no checkable address?
5. At January 10, 2007 4:15 PM, Paul Richmond wrote:
Our website is run from our division based in the USA and is hosted in the USA. Do these UK regulations apply to websites hosted in the USA?
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1. At January 5, 2007 4:24 PM, Helen Taylor wrote: