Why you must keep Companies House data up-to-date

When your business was registered at Companies House, you would have provided lots of detail about the business and the people who run it – including who are your directors, company secretary, the breakdown of share capital, and the type of business your company does. But failing to keep this information up-to-date could land you in hot water with the authorities.

Each year, you are required to file your Confirmation Statement to inform Companies House about any changes that have been made to your company in the previous year. Failing to do this within the allotted time will lead to sanctions, which could include your company being struck off the register if you continually fail to comply.

You must tell companies house about any changes, such as the adding or removal of directors of the business, a change of business or personal address, and any changes to the business sectors your business operates in.

Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association

You also need to sign up to an ‘Articles of Association’ and ‘Memorandum of Association’ when your business is formed, which you can choose to write yourself or you can use the model version from Companies House.

The Articles of Association is a longer document which sets out your company’s constitution, so even if you do use a model version of these, you need to check it carefully to ensure it meets the needs of your business, especially if this changes over time. You can amend these to keep them current.

The Memorandum of Association is a single page document which outlines each person who is going to be a part of the company at the start. This cannot be changed even if the people within the business come and go. It is a historical record of how your company was formed at the time, and by whom.

Even if you think everything has been correctly filed at Companies House, it is always worth checking periodically to make sure, as you might be surprised what may have been done incorrectly without your knowledge.

Let us help you

If you think you may need to amend any details held by Companies House about your business, then please get in touch and discuss this and we will do what we can to help you.