Does the registered name need to be displayed at the registered office?

Does the registered name need to be displayed...

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We had some spam come through today selling Registered Office Sign Boards. We were about to throw this out before we noticed that it says it is a requirement for ccompanies to display their registered name at their registered office. Really?

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By User deleted
03rd Nov 2009 12:09

.

yes, but no but.

That is to say yes you do, but there arent any registered office sign invesitigation police.

That is to say no penalty for non compliance

I am generally of the opinon if it costs more to comply than not, you dont bother complying unless there are good commercial reasons for it.

No doubt several people will throw their arms up in the air and tell me this is very very bad and the world will end for such a poor attitude, but hey ho.

 

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David Winch
By David Winch
03rd Nov 2009 12:22

If you are charging for this service . . .

If you are charging for this service do make sure that you are compliant with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in relation to acting as a Trust and Company Service Provider.

If you are an accountant supervised by HMRC for money laundering compliance this is likely to involve some extra form filling and extra fees as the registration with HMRC as an Accountancy Service Provider under MLR 2007 does not cover you for acting as a T&CSP.

David

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
03rd Nov 2009 12:32

Yes

This Companies House guidance is set out at http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/gbhtml/gp1.shtml#ch9 as follows:

"2. Where must I display my company name?

Every company, unless it has at all times been dormant since incorporation, must display a sign with its registered name at:

its registered office;any inspection place;at any location at which it carries on business (unless it is primarily used for living accommodation.

It must also include its registered name in all business communications (hard copy and electronic).

3. How must I display the sign with my company name?

You must display a sign with your company name:

in characters that can be read with the naked eye;in such a way that visitors to that office, place or location may easily see it;so that it can be seen at any time, i.e. not only during business hours;continuously, but if the location is shared by six or more companies, each such company is only required to display its registered name for at least fifteen continuous seconds at least once in every three minutes."

It doesn't say that you have to have a big expensive sign.  A piece of paper listing all the companies with registered offices at the address and stuck to the wall in the entrance will do.

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By MBK
03rd Nov 2009 12:57

Euan's solution works fine, but.....

... any self respecting firm of accountants would not want to go down that road.

We have over 200 companies with their registered office here, and the display issues have always been a pain because the list is constantly expanding. New clients, in particular, expect to see their name up - and get annoyed when it is not. But a board is a complete waste of time and money. They are expensive and time consuming to update. The other alternative some use is to have a series of photo frames and simply print lists on A4 and update them regularly - but it doesn't look too good.

What we have been searching for is an electronic solution complying with the requirement to display the name for 15 continuous seconds every three minutes. This has the advantages of being instantly updateable, professional in appearance, and offering an advertising opportunity in our reception area as well. We think (subject to a couple of final bits!) we have it cracked for less than £400 all up.

As far as we can see there is no one out there selling a solution so, once we have it working, we will be selling the solution for a modest fee - you buy and install your own kit. If anyone is interested send me an e-mail at [email protected].

Apologies to those who say I shouldn't use this site for advertising - I prefer to think of it as offering a solution!!

 

 

 

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By User deleted
03rd Nov 2009 14:22

Signage
"we have it cracked for less than £400"

- I'll be sticking with my bit of paper then !

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By User deleted
03rd Nov 2009 14:52

Powerpoint?
Surely a simple slideshow produced using powerpoint would give the same results Jon.

Then all you need is an old PC and monitor sitting in reception playing the same show all day. You can even add other slides advertising the services you offer as long as the registered office information is available the minimum required time.

If you use open office it wouldn't cost you a penny other than a bit of time setting up and beats chucking that old PC in the bin.

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By andy.mars
03rd Nov 2009 18:32

please send me your £400

How about an electronic photo frame with a series of jpeg images for each group of companies ?

 You simply need to update the list whenever necessary in say Word, convert it into an image file and then put it onto the memory card. Hey presto - a list of company names shown electronically, which you can then vary the speed of display as necessary.

 

 

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By carnmores
03rd Nov 2009 19:07

yes

got one of those

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By Richard Willis
03rd Nov 2009 21:23

To Jon Gammon

Looks as if the dragons are all out then!

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By MBK
04th Nov 2009 08:21

Interesting!!

Thank you all for your contributions - but nothing we hadn't already thought of. I freely admit that if you have only a handful of names to display then there are much easier / cheaper ways of doing it. But, as I said at the outset, we have over 200. The way we will do it, I admit, only applies when you have these larger numbers.

Digitial photo frames don't work - they are nowhere near big enough to comply with the regulations. What you need is either a TFT monitor or a LCD TV - both of which are possibilities.

Using Powerpoint is, of course, the right way to go. But have you tried creating the slides for 200+ individual companies?!! And then you have to do it all over again whenever you have an update to make. That is where we have some code written which makes the whole thing feasible. Not rocket science - but you need to know what you are doing.

The trick is then to get the thing to display how you need it to to be compliant with the regs. A PC (with a big enough monitor) works fine running a powerpoint slideshow. But if you have to buy a PC (or a big monitor) for the purpose that will be expensive, and the box needs space. Much cheaper and more space efficient to buy an LCD TV and use that - provided you know how to make it display the slides to comply with the regulations.

The other interesting (or perhaps not so interesting!) thing is the Companies House guidance which Euan reproduced. It states, in relation to display of the names "so that it can be seen at any time, i.e. not only during business hours". So, in theory, we all have to have our pieces of paper / digital photo frames / PCs etc in our windows or we are breaking the law.

That is not what the regulations actually say. The relevant part of the regs say "The registered name shall be so positioned that it may be easily seen by any visitor to that office, place or location". In my book a person is not a visitor to my office until he enters reception - but the law may take a different view.

All of this comes down to (a) how many names you need to display and (b) whether you want to do the absolute minimum necessary or something which looks / presents in a professional way consistent with the image you want to project.

But, given the reactions, I guess I'll just have to think again about taking this to Peter, Theo, James and the dreadful Deborah. Damn and blast - there was me thinking retirement was just around the corner!

 

 

 

 

 

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By User deleted
04th Nov 2009 12:46

working from home

I work from home and have a couple of clients who I have agreed to let them use my address as R.O.

I do not charge and it means that the paper work is not thrown in the bin before I get a chance to see it, I suppose that I am in breach of regulations but I suspect that I am far from alone.

 

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