It is possible to do it that way - but the company will be a normal company and will only be declared 'dormant' in a return you make at the end of the first year of trading. It is a strightforward form providing your company has not been trading during that period. You can get verification of how this works by calling the Companies House helpline direct: Tel: 0870 3333636. However, though registration of the company name will prevent someone else registering the exact same company name - it provides NO exclusive rights to use that name - and it in no way indicates that you are not infringing somebody elses "Trade Mark" - you need to be clear about that. Protection of "Trade Marks" is managed by the patent office http://www.patent.gov.uk . Companies House only checks that nobody else has registered that identical company name, and that the name uses no restricted terms within it (such as Institute, bank, etc.,), without proper authorisation. Good luck Innovateur Venture Resources for High Growth Potential Projects http://www.innovateur.co.uk
------------------------
Innovateur
Venture Resources for High Growth Potential Projects
http://www.innovateurs.com

A note to clear up a common misconception regarding dormant companies. At the moment a company is registered, it is dormant and as long as it does not trade it will continue to be so.

Failure to submit dormant accounts will not make the entity a trading company. Whether or not a company is dormant is a question of fact, not dependant on it making one or more declarations. It either trades or it does not.

Should the company not submit any accounts, then this will of course result in late filing penalties being incurred, but again, it will not alter the fact that the company is dormant.

A dormant company is permitted to incur incident expenses in order to maintain its existence. For example, it can incur accountancy fees levied in the course of submitting its accounts and also the annual return fee paid to Companies House.
------------------------
Simon - Company Formation Services

Hi,

We are thinking of starting up a Ltd company. At the moment we need to do some investments on IT equipment on behalf of the new company to be created but the product will take at least one year to be developed. This means that we won't be doing any trading during this time, only incurring on expenses. Would make sense to register the Ltd company as a 'Non-trading' or Dormant?

Many thanks

Paul

If you are incurring expenses, then you cannot be 'dormant'.

You should advise HMRC that you are currently not trading, but intend to do so in the future.
------------------------
www.brighton-accountants.com

Thanks for the response.

But would be possible to register a Ltd without doing any trading for the first year and without setting any salary to the new company's Director at least during this period as all members would keep their own full time jobs? Does anyone know how much administrative cost would involve running this company? There would be just some IT equipment costs, but not trading at all.

Many thanks

Paul

The minimum annual admin cost of a completely dormant company is £15 for an online annual return, and a simple set of dormant accounts which you can do yourself.

If there are a few transactions, the cost of a very simple set of accounts prepared by an accountant may be £100-£300.
------------------------
www.brighton-accountants.com