The Companies Act provides for your company's dissolution and removal from the Register of Companies House so that is officially ceases to exist. This is called voluntary dissolution. To voluntary dissolve a company, you have to formally apply to the Registrar who then will strike off its name from the Register.

To qualify for de-registration, a company must have been totally inert and dormant for the last three months, that is, it should not have carried out any kind of business activity, changed its name or disposed of any property or assets such as land, building and machinery. Paying off company's debts, however, is not considered business activity. The company cannot apply for voluntary dissolution if it is involved or is likely to get involved in insolvency proceedings.

Before applying for your company's dissolution, be sure to inform beforehand all stake-holders and parties such as creditors, members and local authorities having interest in the company's affairs, as any of them may raise an objection later and block the dissolution. Also, you should close the company bank account before you apply to the Registrar. As soon as the company is dissolved, all assets held by it as well as the bank balance get transferred to the Crown. So be sure that before filing for dissolution, you dispose of all assets, property and cash at bank.

Directors can get their companies dissolved by filling up and submitting Form 652a to the Registrar. Within seven days, the directors must also provide a copy of the form to members (shareholders), creditors (banks, suppliers, landlords, etc.), current employees, managers and any director who has not signed the form. If the company owes any dues to agencies such as Inland Revenue, Customs & Excise and VAT office, they should be notified too.

Dissolving a company that has been lying dormant has many benefits. The directors do not have to go through the trouble of filing returns every year, keep detailed accounts, prepare all kinds of paperwork and maintain a registered office. Dissolution is a very cost effective and quick way of making a company cease to exist. It is also much cheaper and easier than going for its voluntary liquidation which makes it mandatory to carry out a formal investigation into the director's conduct.

If your company meets the legal conditions for voluntary dissolution, we can take care of the paperwork and file the forms on your behalf with the Companies House. We make the entire process quite simple at a very competitive rate. As soon as you have taken a decision to dissolve the company, let us know and we will take over from there and guide you with the paperwork and procedures.

We will ensure that the form requesting dissolution is filled up correctly as any omission or over-writing would result in it being declared invalid. The duly completed form with your and other director's signatures is then filed by us with the Companies House and its acknowledgement provided to you.