Parking a business.

[TotalControl]

Is it okay to park a business, as in, to register it for future use so that the name doesn't get taken? Rather much like a web address being parked for availability. The company will be limited, so I don't know how that would affect things.

[Eric Mc]

You can't register a "business" in the UK as such so the notion of "parking a business" does not work.

You COULD register a new limited company using the name you want which would at least stop someone else registering a limited company of the exact same name.

You might not want to do this however, as keeping a limited company "alive" at Companies House does involve some costs and the need to keep an eye on annual filing deadlines.

[10JH]

Could you not just register a ltd company then make it dormant?

Surely then the costs are very small, circa £20 for registering, then is there even a cost for keeping it dormant?

[TotalControl]

Thank you for clarifying that Eric. Worded much better than myself. I was thinking more along the lines of keeping it dormant for a little while like 10JH has said. Are there any costs in doing this?

Edited by TotalControl on Tuesday 2nd March 14:21

[Mattt]

There's a cost for either filing of annual dormant accounts, or completing the CH annual return - can't remember which it is, but it's just under £20 if you DIY.

[Eric Mc]

10JH said:

Could you not just register a ltd company then make it dormant?

Surely then the costs are very small, circa £20 for registering, then is there even a cost for keeping it dormant?

Once a limited company is set up, every year it must submit to Companies House the following -

a set of accounts (dormant accounts for a dormant company).

an Annual Return (Form AR10).

There is no filing fee for the submission of the accounts.
There is a £15 filing fee for submitting the Annual Return on-line or £30 fee if the Anuual Return is submitted by paper.

There are automatic late filing penalties for missing the statutory filing date for annual accounts (even for dormant companies). The first penalty is £150 after which it climbs rapidly.