These changes aim to improve the accuracy and quality of the data on Companies House registers, to help tackle economic crime and drive confidence in the UK economy. Registrar's will have greater powers to query and challenge information that appears to be incorrect or inconsistent with information held.

What's changing and what this may mean for you and your business
 
Registered office and email address:
Companies must have a registered office and email address.  This is defined as:

• New rules for registered office addresses will mean all companies must have an appropriate address at all times. Companies will not be able to use a PO Box as their registered office address.
• A requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address.

Statement of lawful purpose: 

• There’ll be a new requirement when you register or ‘incorporate’ a company from March 2024.  The subscribers to the company will need to confirm they’re forming the company for a lawful purpose.  
• A company will also need to confirm its intended future activities are lawful, on their annual confirmation statement. 

Registrar’s powers:
The registrar will have greater powers to query and challenge information that appears to be incorrect or inconsistent with information held. There’ll be stronger checks on company names which may give a false or misleading impression to the public, helping improve the accuracy and quality of the data and help to tackle the misuse of company names.  

Enforcement and sanctions: 
If a company does not respond to a formal request from Companies House, there will be serious consequences. This could include: 

• A financial penalty.
• An annotation on the company’s record.
• Prosecution.
• There could also be serious consequences for a company if their registered office is not an appropriate address.  An appropriate address must be provided with evidence of proprietary ownership within 28 days, or they could start the process to strike the company off the register.   
• There will also be a new identity verification process introduced in 2024. We will keep you updated as and when this will happen. 

How Jerroms can support you
As a Jerroms client, our experts will keep you informed as and when these changes occur and be ready to support you through the process. Your assigned account manager is available to answer any queries you may have and make sure that you are compliant with UK laws and reporting requirements.