The advantages to buying a ltd company online are huge. When you buy a ltd company online you know that everything is going to be done correctly, because the people incorporating your enterprise on your behalf know exactly what they are doing. It’s their job. They also have special fast track associations with Companies House (the seat of all company registration in the UK), which will speed up the process of registering your chosen company name so you can begin to trade under it. And if you really want to get off the mark quick smart, you can choose to have a pre-named, pre-registered company instead – all ready to go from the moment you fill out your bank details and make payment.
Obviously, if you buy a ltd company online that has already been registered, and is fully ready for trading, you will have no say in its Articles (the charters, which set out the rules of the company); and you won’t be able to choose its name either. For small businesses (typically sole traders looking to protect themselves against future misfortune by limiting their liability), an off the peg ltd company solution is often just right, though: because it enables instant protection with no complicated sign up or registration process. Off the peg ltd companies tend to have extremely simple Articles, which are there for show as much as anything: as a sole trader going limited, you simply take on the shell of the empty company, keep doing what you have always done, but enjoy the legal protection of limited liability.
It’s both easy and cheap to buy a ltd company online: whether you go for the simple off the peg option, or whether you choose to have the pros incorporate your own name and draw up your Articles for you. The average fee for incorporation, either of a ready made company or of a company named by you, is £55: that buys you everything you need to get started. The only difference lies in the speed with which you can get started: for an own name company, you have to wait until the powers that be have finished with your application, while an off the peg company can begin trading immediately.