UK Services - Legal

Registered Office

The Registered Office address is the address that a company is officially registered at upon incorporation. It is a requirement for all UK companies to have a UK-based registered office address which must not be a post office box number. This address is used for mail delivery from Companies House, HM Revenue and Customs and other relevant Governing Bodies.

The provision of a specific Registered Office, such as in the City of London, is particularly useful for UK companies owned by overseas residents or smaller companies who would like to have a prestigious address, separate from the one from which they operate.

If you require a prestigious City of London Registered Office then WCA can provide you with this facility. Please contact us for more information.

Company Secretarial Services

The main role of the Company Secretary is to ensure that your company undertakes the statutory duties and complies with the company law. The Company Secretary is also responsible for maintaining the company register.

Although it is no longer a legal requirement to appoint a Company Secretary for a private limited company, the duties must still be fulfilled. Failure to file any changes in the details of the company’s directors, shareholders, issued share capital or secretary and the annual filing of statutory documents at Companies House may result in fines and subsequently the company being struck off the Register or even criminal liability being raised against the company directors. The best way to avoid this is to appoint a professional organisation to take care of your company secretarial matters.

WCA can act as your company secretary and let you concentrate your efforts on the business

Please contact us for further details.

Trademarks

A trademark is a distinctive sign or indicator that an individual or a business organisation uses to distinguish its products and services from others available in the marketplace. A trademark shows consumers that the product or service they are buying is coming from a unique source. However legal exclusivity is only obtained by trademark registration.

There is a large range of trademarks that can be registered including a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, etc. or a combination of any of these.

A Trademark can be registered either in one or several jurisdictions. Under the Madrid Protocol, 80 countries (as of 1st April 2010) including UK, EU and US can be covered by only one trademark application. This provides a trademark with global protection.

WCA can advise on all your Trademark requests and queries. In particular we are able to search as to whether a trademark exists in any of the member countries of the Madrid Protocol, and to register a trademark under the Protocol if so desired.

Agent for Service of Process

An Agent for Service of Process is a representative appointed by a company to receive legal notices or process on its behalf.

Under English court procedure rules, it is necessary to serve papers to start proceedings correctly. If a party does not have a process address within England, the procedure for serving these papers is lengthy and complicated. It is therefore customary to appoint a process agent and agree that service at the address of the agent will constitute proper service for the purpose of the court procedural requirements.

WCA can act as Agent for Service of Process in connection with any proceedings in the Courts of England and Wales relating to any suit, action or other proceeding arising out of any agreement covered by a Letter of Agreement. Please contact WCA for more details.

Stationery

Seals

A company seal is an official seal used by a company to emboss documents with the company name and number. It is often used in place of the signatures of the authorised representatives of the company.

Although not legally required in the UK since the Companies Act 1985, company seals are still widely used today. In many countries company seals still have great importance and therefore many UK companies doing business overseas will often need to seal a document to complete a contract or agreement.

Some companies opt to have a company seal as it does give a professional finish to important documents and certificates. Other advantages include better control as the use of the seal has to be witnessed and it also provides greater authenticity. The company can also have a Securities seal for affixing to Securities.

Registers

Under UK law every company is required to have and maintain statutory books and records – the Company Register, which contains:

• Register of members
• Register of directors and secretary
• Register of application and allotments and return of allotments
• Registers of transfer of shares, debenture holders, and charges
• Register of material share interests (public limited companies only)

The records of a company incorporated in the UK must be kept in the UK, normally at the Registered Office, and not overseas. The register should always be updated and available to be shown to a member of the public upon request.

WCA can provide a selection of registers including hard back and loose leaf.

Nameplates

No matter how small or big your limited company The Companies Act requires that the name of the company must be displayed at its registered office address, even if it is a Director’s home.

If your company wishes to have a seal, a hardbound or loose leaf register, or a name plate then please contact WCA with your requirements.