When seeking to register a company for the purpose of managing a block of flats the decision exists on what type of business incorporation is suitable for that purpose.

Dedicated flat management company formation services do exist for this specific purpose whereby the memorandum and articles of association are tailored towards this type of registration.

The property address is typically entered on these documents and as companies limited by guarantee, the non profit and distribution clauses are included as standard.

An alternative format to registering a company limited by guarantee and thus incorporating a definitive flat management company is to setup a company limited by shares.

Whilst most companies limited by shares are profit making enterprises they too can be used to facilitate the incorporation of a flat management company.

One concept which is universally understood in the field of company formation is that of share ownership. Most people or in this instance lessees can comprehensive a situation where there are ten flats, ten shares in issue and each property occupier is given one share unit.

Due to this understanding of the division of the company’s equities companies limited by shares is sometimes the favoured option when registering a flat management company.

In terms of how the company might operate, the memorandum and articles documents can be arrange to encompass the company objects thereby removing the default profit making slant. In specifying the company’s objects the dedicated purpose of the incorporation and existence of the flat management company can be articulated, removing any uncertainty as to the raison d’être of the registered entity.

As with any adjustment to a company’s constitutional documents, extra time and expense might be incurred to affirm the language and to ensure compliance to the current Companies Act 2006 legislation.

An additional consideration in determining the most effective means of incorporating a flat management company is of course the cost. Most company formation agents charge a premium for this type of business registration, although others with enhanced company setup systems are able to cater for all types of formations as standard and therefore do not levy supplementary fees.

It is often asked at what stage of a business incorporation are the company objects defined. In situations where a company is being registered for a defined purpose or to conduct a specific trade, customers frequently request that the memorandum and articles of association state those distinct objects.

By doing this their customers, suppliers and perhaps most importantly their investors can view the company’s objects immediately following the business incorporation and reassure themselves that the purpose for which the enterprise exists is as they have been advised.

The issue is that the Companies Act 2006 inherently purports that every UK business incorporation for companies limited by shares is a general trading vehicle, capable of carrying out any activity which has been deemed legal.

In order the satisfy a requirement that information be provided on a company’s objects the persons conducting the business incorporation can take the one of the following courses of action.

The first option would be to deviate from the prescribed Companies Act 2006 model articles of association and submit a bespoke set of documents at the company formation stage.

These amended articles could of course include provisions defining the specific company objects and perhaps exclude others activities either on an individually named or global, all-encompassing basis.

The preparers of these modified documents would have to exercise high levels of diligence to ensure that the finished versions were still compliant with the Companies Act and thereby acceptable to ensure the business incorporation was successful.

A secondary method of ensuring the company’s objects were viewable to enquiring third parties would be to create and then tender altered articles of association immediately following the business incorporation.

Whilst this method might be more cumbersome than incorporating the company with the correct documents, it might be preferred in situations where registering the company is an urgent matter. An example of this scenario might be in the case of persons wanting to set up a company using a specific name which might soon become unavailable.

It could thus be determined that a successful registration of the name is of paramount importance and the statement of the objects can occur subsequent to the company formation.

A third and perhaps most popular method of indicating what a company’s activities are and therefore by association, what its objects are, is during the filing of the business’ annual return.

When completing a company annual return is it mandatory to articulate the activity or areas of business the company operates in. This process is accomplished through the use of SIC codes which are pre-determined reference numbers representing varying fields of industrial and commercial activity.

Whilst some SIC codes are of a general nature and not as exacting as actually stating the specific objects of the company, they can act as a guide as to what manner of enterprise the business is engaged in.

Of the three options listed, the preferred method would probably lean towards submitting altered documents at the time of the business incorporation which contain the company objects.

This guarantees that the information is presented at the inception of the company’s existence and avoids confusion normally evident when a company has several versions of its articles of association listed against it Companies House records.

The Companies Act 2006 introduced a significant provision in respect of protecting the home address of a company director. The new regulation creates a new term in company formation circles which are commonly referred to as directors’ services addresses.

Thus, when setting up a company applicants for the position of company director are required to state not only their residential addresses but also provide a second location which will be the services address.

The implications of this development are that it is only the directors’ service address which is displayed at Companies House. In cases where the service address differs from the director’s home address this mechanism essentially protects the home address of the director.

The protection of the home address is a free facility insofar as Companies House does not make any additional changes for use of as service address. Some company formation agents do make a nominal charge where applicants wish to use their location as the service address.

The element for protection of a director’s home address is in essence an extension of the Section 243 (S243) facility afforded to specially protected individuals who are engaged in sensitive employment positions.

Very few people were granted the exclusive S243 status and therefore the facility to protect a director’s residential location using the service address mechanism essentially extends this ability to all corporate officers.