Following the implementation of the Companies Act 2006, memorandum of associations relating to UK incorporated entities have changed to reflect the changes. Below is an example of a typical set of documents which can be used in the formation of a company limited by shares.

THE COMPANIES ACT 1985 to 1989

PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES

MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
OF
An Example Company Limited

1. The company’s name is An Example Company Limited

2. The Company’s registered office is to be situated in England and Wales.

3. The Company’s objects are:

(a) To carry on the business of a general commercial company.

(b) To acquire by purchase, lease, exchange, hire or otherwise and take options over any property whatever, and any rights or privileges of any kind over or in respect of any property of any kind

(c) To acquire by purchase, application, registration or otherwise and protect, prolong and renew, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere any patents, patent rights, licences, secret processes, trade marks, designs, protections and concessions or any other intellectual property rights and to disclaim, alter, modify, use and turn to account and to manufacture under or grant licences or privileges in respect of the same.

(d) To acquire or undertake the whole or any part of the business, goodwill, and assets of any person, firm, or company carrying on or proposing to carry on any of the businesses which the Company is authorised to carry on and undertake all or any of the liabilities of such person, firm or company as part of the consideration for such acquisition, or to acquire an interest in, amalgamate with, or enter into partnership or into any arrangement for sharing profits, or for co­operation, or for mutual assistance with any such person, firm or company, or for subsidising or otherwise assisting any such person, firm or company, and to give or accept, by way of consideration for any of the acts or things aforesaid or property acquired, any shares, debentures, debenture stock or securities that may be agreed upon, and to hold and retain, or sell, mortgage and deal with any shares, debentures, debenture stock or securities so received.

(e) To improve, manage, construct, repair, develop, exchange, let on lease or otherwise, mortgage, charge, sell, dispose of, turn to account, grant licences, options, rights and privileges in respect of, or otherwise deal with all or any part of the property and rights of the Company.

(f) To invest and deal with the monies of the Company not immediately required and to hold or otherwise deal with any investments made in such manner as the Company may from time to time determine.

(g) To lend and advance money or give credit on any terms and with or without security to any person, firm or company (including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing any holding company, subsidiary or fellow subsidiary of, or any other company associated in any way with, the Company), to enter into guarantees, contracts of indemnity and suretyships of all kinds, to receive money on deposit or loan upon any terms, and to secure or guarantee in any manner and upon and terms the payment of any sum of money or the performance of any obligation by any person, firm or company (including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing any such holding company, subsidiary, fellow subsidiary or associated company as aforesaid).

(h) To borrow and raise money in any manner and to secure the repayment of any money borrowed, raised or owing by mortgage, charge, standard security, lien or other security upon the whole or any part of the Company’s property or assets (whether present or future), including its uncalled capital, and also by a similar mortgage, charge, standard security, lien or security to secure and guarantee the performance by the Company of any obligation or liability it may undertake or which may become binding on it.

(i) To draw, make, accept, endorse, discount, negotiate, execute and issue cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes, warrants, debentures, and other negotiable or transferable instruments.

(j) To apply for, promote, and obtain any Act of Parliament, order, or licence of the Department of Trade or other authority for enabling the Company to carry any of its objects into effect, or for effecting any modification of the Company’s constitution, or for any other purpose which may seem calculated directly or indirectly to promote the Company’s interests, and to oppose any proceedings or applications which may seem calculated directly or indirectly to prejudice the Company’s interests.

(k) To acquire by subscription or otherwise, hold, sell, deal with and dispose of, place and underwrite shares, stocks, debentures, debenture stocks, or any other securities issued or guaranteed by any company constituted or carrying on business in any part of the world, and any such securities issued or guaranteed by any government or authority, municipal, local or otherwise, in any part of the world.

(l) To control, manage, finance, subsidise, co­ordinate or otherwise assist any company or companies in which the Company has a direct or indirect financial interest. 

(m) To promote any other company for the purpose of acquiring the whole or any part of the business or property of undertaking or any of the liabilities of the Company, or of undertaking any business or operations which may appear likely to assist or benefit the Company or to enhance the value of any property or business of the Company, and to place or guarantee the placing of, underwrite, subscribe for, or otherwise acquire all or any part of the shares or securities of any such company as aforesaid.

(n) To sell or otherwise dispose of the whole or any part of the business or property of the Company for such consideration as the Company may think fit.

(o) To act as agents or brokers and as trustees for any person, firm or company, and to undertake and perform sub­contracts.

(p) To remunerate any person, firm or company rendering services to the Company either by cash payment or otherwise.

(q) To distribute among the Members of the Company in kind any property of the Company properly distributable amongst the members.

(r) To pay or procure the payment of all or any expenses incurred in connection with the promotion, formation and incorporation of the Company.

(s) To give or award pensions, annuities, gratuities and superannuation or other allowances or benefits or charitable aid and generally to provide advantages, facilities and services for any persons who are or have been Directors or employees of the Company, or any company which is a subsidiary of the Company or the holding company of the Company or a fellow subsidiary of the Company or the predecessors in business of the Company or of any such subsidiary, holding or fellow subsidiary company and to the wives, widows, children and other relatives and dependants of such persons; to make payments towards insurance including insurance for any Director, officer or Auditor against any liability incurred by such persons in respect of any act or omission by them in relation to the carrying out of their obligations and duties in relation to the Company.

(t) Subject to and in accordance with a due compliance with the provisions of section 155 to 158 (inclusive) of the Act (if and so far as such provisions shall be applicable), to give, whether directly or indirectly, any kind of financial assistance (as defined in section 152(1)(a) of the Act) for any such purpose as is specified in section 151(1) and/or section 151(2) of the Act.

(u) To procure the Company to be registered or recognised in any part of the world.

(v) To do all or any of the things authorised in any part of the world and either as principals, agents, contractors or otherwise, and by or through agents, brokers, sub­contractors or otherwise and either alone or in conjunction with others.

(w) To do all such other things as may be deemed incidental or conducive to the attainment of the Company’s object or of any of the powers given to it by the Act or by this Clause.

AND so that:

(1) None of the objects set forth in any sub­clause of this Clause shall be restrictively construed but the widest interpretation shall be given to each such object, and none of such objects shall, except where the context expressly so requires, be in any way limited or restricted by reference to or inference from any other object set forth in such sub­clause, or by reference to or inference from the terms of any other sub­clause of this Clause, or by reference to or inference from the name of the Company.

(2) The word “Company” in this Clause, except where used in reference to the Company, shall be deemed to include any partnership or other body of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated and whether incorporated, registered, resident or domiciled in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

(3) In this Clause the expression “the Act” means the Companies Act 1985, but so that any reference in this Clause to any provision of the Act shall be deemed to include a reference to any statutory modification or re-enactment of that provision for the time being in force.
4. The liability of the Members is limited.

5. The Company’s share capital is £1000 divided into 1000 Ordinary £1 Shares of £1 each.

We, the subscribers to this Memorandum of Association, wish to be formed into a Company pursuant to this Memorandum and to take the number of shares shown opposite our respective names.

Names and addresses of subscribers, and number of shares taken
Name and Address:
Company Shareholder
42A Street Address
Name of Town
County
Postcode

Number of shares taken: 1000

Dated this 26th day of November 2008.

There are many third party registered office facilities on offer whereby they allow a limited company to make use of their address. They then promise to forward all post from Companies House and Revenue and Customs to the director’s home residence, usually at no additional cost.

There are both advantages and disadvantages of using third party registered offices both at the time of the formation of a company or at a later date when the business has been in existence for some time.

One of the much talked about benefits of not using a home residence for this purpose is that of protecting the location of where the director or owner lives. This is not really an effective mechanism for hiding the owner’s residential address as currently, they are required by law to disclose this location when they are appointed as director, secretary or shareholder.

Thus, their residence can be found by this means and the fact that the registered office may be housed in another location will not disguise this fact.

Until the Companies Act 2006 provision takes effect, which allows company officers to hide their residential addresses, the protection afforded by third party facilities purporting to keep home location secret is a thin argument.

Prestige and impression is another commonly mentioned advantage of subscribing to outside registered office services. This benefit is a little more substantial as a company registered office located in say Central London and displayed on the business’ website and letterheads is likely to be viewed as more graceful than if 14 Fraser Close was shown instead.

One potential disadvantage of using a third party registered office address is that it adds one more cog in the company’s chain of receiving their Companies House and Revenue and Customs post. Instead of going straight from the Government department to the director, it goes firstly to the third party who then hopefully accurately dispatches it to its intended recipient.

Another factor which can influence the likelihood of mail being received at it final destination is the forwarding strategy adopted by the registered office providers. Most such facilities are offered by company formation agents, some of whom have differing policies toward the forwarding of statutory mail.

The Royal Mail states that when an item of post has been sent and received at its intended destination, i.e. the third party registered office, any further redirecting of that item must carry the required postage to the eventual recipient.

So the mere placing of a new address label on the letter and re-posting it without applying additional stamps may result in a charge (the proper postage plus a penalty) being levied on the director when it is delivered.

Some company formation providers do apply additional postage for the journey from their offices to the director’s home address whereas others do not. The service offered by this latter category may not be as effective as that which is provided by the first.

The good aspects of statutory post are that many of the tasks which traditionally used to be completed via paper forms are now available online. Hence the transfer of communications from Companies House and Revenue and Customs by means of physical mail is becoming less crucial in business operations.

Whilst the transition from paper to online correspondence is becoming more commonplace, it should also be noted that any letters sent by these two government departments can be re-requested. Also, given the timely nature at which most communications are despatched, there is usually sufficient time for copies of documents to be resent without the deadline of their submission passing.

Using third party registered office facilities can benefit those who wish to register a company by elevating there perceived status to a well known address location. An awareness of when certain post is due to be received from the Government departments may help both the tracking and the eventual receipt of all post which forms part of the relaying service.

Small Business owners who were once comforted by a booming housing market now see their biggest asset losing it value on a weekly basis. The extent to which this effects their perception of their commercial operations has in some cases been stark.

The period where house prices were rising at between one to five percent each month and small businesses had an ever growing source of finance through the increasing equity value of their homes is a distant memory.

In addition to providing any needed capital injection, a residential property whose value was steadily increasing by the buoyant housing market delivered the ultimate comfort to businesses; it made them feel good about themselves and the prospects for further overall profit.

Saddled with falling prices and an economy tinkering on recession, the double blow has been a staggering reminder of the long forgotten vulnerabilities faced by when market conditions change rapidly.

With house prices continuing to fall across the UK and the stagnating sales and purchase sectors, a lot of entrepreneurs are feeling claustrophobic; a tightening of options against a backdrop that things will get worse before they start improving.

Costs both across the business and the household are being reduced with redundancies and other cutbacks now commonplace as revenues fall.

On it own, the effects and responses to the housing market declines in recent periods on business start-ups was generally measured. “We have been here before” was the common sentiment and prices are bound to pick up once the Government lowers interest rates.

The virtual collapse of global banking has exacerbated the situation ten-fold, attacking the very business revenues which were the only source after continual solid gains in property prices.

First time buyers are non-existent; they have run so far from property and have distanced from any inclination of rescuing the housing market that it would take a private investigator to find a willing participant.

The result is that any householder thinking of starting a business would firstly, have to wait for the economic situation to return to some degree of normality and secondly, for the housing market to increase once more.

Most commentators forecast that the former will take at least two to three years to come around, after which property can start producing some financial gain and begin restoring the much needed confidence in business, so that owners are will to invest in their futures.