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Online banking transactions now consistently hit over £1 billion a day a study has shown.The study does not show the percentage of transactions made on phones, tablets or PC`s, but the rise is probably due to the increase in mobile banking and the rise of new apps to aid this.The research shows that over 15,000 online banking applications have been downloaded every day. This total`s over 14.7 million bank applications have now been downloaded.The report does also show that many people still prefer online internet banking as opposed to mobile phones, especially when large transactions are involved.The rise of online banking, including mobile and internet has ultimately led to a fall in the use of bank branches. However people still like to use the branch for important moments such as mortgages and financial advice.

Business Banking

Business banking has also seen a large increase of its customers using applications to aid with the running of the business. Your Virtual Office London can help get you a business bank account with Barclay's. We are able to fast track your application and this is all totally free, just another great service we provide to all our clients. If you need advice or help do not hesitate to contact us today.

During the lifetime of a company, you may find it can be beneficial to invite another shareholder into the company. You may want to create another share without transferring any existing shares. In effect you are creating a new share of the company.When a new share is created you without any shares actually being transferred you just need to complete the SH01 form from companies House. Since the Companies Act 2006 companies no longer have an “authorised share capital” that consists of shares that have not been issued. This means shares must be issued by filling in the form SH01 which is obtained from Companies House.

Why would I want to issue more shares?

Circumstances change and there can be many reasons why you would want to create a new share for a new subscriber to the company.

• Family member joins the company
• A business partner is brought in
• A staff member has been promoted

How many shares should I issue?

This would depend on how much of a percentage you would want them to own. So for example if there is just one shareholder with one share, and you are looking to bring in a new shareholder that has 50% of the shares you would issue another single share. So both shareholders have 1 share each, equating to an equal share of the company (505)If your Ltd Company has used all the issued shares from the authorised share capital, you will have to issue new shares by creating them.

Why use Your Virtual Office London?

If you are an existing director or shareholder of a Limited Company and you are needing advice on how to issue more shares we can help assist you. Our Company Formation experts have vast amount of experience in forming companies and providing advice to small businesses. We provide a wide array of services to small businesses, including virtual office services, call answering, mail forwarding and registered office services.

The UK is to become the second largest economy by 2020, overtaking France. This is according to a consultancy firm PwC.PwC have said this is due to the strength of the pound against the dollar, when compared to the strength of the Euro to the dollar. The strong currency combined with continued falling unemployment is adding the economy`s growth.Germany is still forecasted to be the top economy in Europe, the US is top globally followed by China, Japan and then Germany.But it says the UK lags behind in areas including education, investment, trade deficits and income inequality.India`s economy is set to overtake the UK by 2030, this will also rise above Germany and Japans to become ranked third largest economy in the world.The UK`s economy is estimated to be worth £1.65 trillion while the French economy is valued at £1.60 million. The consultancy has noted that the UK has strengths in political, legal and regulatory institution. This also includes easing of doing business and strong communications technology. They also suggested that the UK scores well with relatively low unemployment rates and good inflation performance.

Why start a business?

Today has never been better to start a business; Your Virtual Office London can help advise you what the best option is for your personal circumstance. With a strong and growing economy the time is right for fledgling businesses to make the most of the market growth and positive financial forecasts. Good publicity for the economy can have a positive impact on business and this can relate to real growth in your new sector.

A memorandum of association is a legal document that is drawn up when a company goes through formation. This is an important element of a company's official paperwork and goes together with the companies articles of association.Basically the purpose of a memorandum of association is to regulate a company's external business activities and along with the articles of association used to form the company's constitution. Since 2009 what you need to include on your memorandum has changed. However, you do still need to file a memorandum of association on formation.The document itself will list the names of the shareholders or members, and will list the number of shares being held by each shareholder. It will also state what the liability is of its shareholders - limited by shares or guarantee, and will explain the types of contracts that the company will be allowed to enter into.The memorandum can be amended to suit the company's needs should things change over time, with the exception of anything that falls under corporate legislation, and there will be a prescribed procedure in place to follow to make any changes.Being that the memorandum of association is a public document that is freely accessible to be inspected by any member of the public, most smaller companies or those who run their business from a residential address may choose to hire a registered office address to use on any forms that are to be made public. This would protect their residential address details from being displayed on public record.Directors and shareholders who may also want to keep their private home address off public record can use a directors service address service. This can be used on any forms that go on the public register at Companies House and can save them from cold callers and unwanted junk mail.The memorandum of association is a legal constitution that governs a limited company. It is normally referred to as the memorandum. It is a legal requirement in order for you to form a Limited Company.The memorandum will inform Companies House of the name, the location of its registered office address, the objectives of the business, and what liability of its members is limited, and also how many shares are issued and the type.As of October 2009 the memorandum is no longer part of a company`s constitution. It only now contains basic and limited information compared to prior. The memorandum is still required and necessary to be filed.The memorandum is a statement that subscribers wish to form a new company and that they have agreed to become members of the company. By becoming subscribers they are entitled to the share capital and will be issued with a minimum of one share each.

What is no longer required in the memorandum?

• You do not need to state the name of the company (i.e private limited, public limited)
• You do not need to give the location of its registered office
• You do not need to provide the objectives of the company
• You do not need to show the authorised share capital

Companies formed before 1st October 2009

These are not required to change their memorandum to the new format. The details mentioned above are legally required to show in the Articles of Association.Your Virtual Office London helps small businesses form companies. We are experts in helping novices become experts when they begin their first formation of a Limited Company. We also can advise if a Limited Company is the most suitable company type. We also help form Limited Liability Partnerships and Companies Limited by Guarantee. Why not give us a call today, we speak plain English with no jargon.

A Limited company is required to have articles of association. This is a very important document and establishes the outlines that base the rules on which the business will run. The articles of association will inform Companies house how many directors are running the business, how much they are paid, share holdings and other important information relating to the Limited Company.The articles of association also include important information about how shares can be sold and how the dividends that the shares produce are distributed. Another important factor is that it explain how internal disputes are handled between directors and / or shareholders.

You can download a model example for your business here.

The articles of association is very important piece of information and it should be taken very seriously when forming a Limited company. You should spend a lot of time formulating its content as it allows you to specify important information such as how your business is run and what types of business you are engaging in. It allows you to explain how the profits generated by your business are distributed, which could be very important in any disputes that may arise.The articles of association will also spell out the process for appointing new directors to the company as well as how financial records will be handled by the company with regards to data protection.It helps to be as clear as you can with your language so no misinterpretation can be made about how you issue stocks and shares, how your apply your voting rights, how you pay your dividends etc. It is almost like drawing up a users guide to how your business is run.You will generally include information such as the purpose of the company, it's organisation, the share capital - not unlike every other company in this country. Obviously, your company name must be included in your articles of association and this means that your legal company name will be registered at Companies House and no one else will be allowed to officially operate under your name.When describing the purpose of your company, it is helpful to be quite detailed to make it easier to be understood by Companies House so they can register you into your correct business category. For example you may be queried over your description of 'creator of beautiful things' when in reality what your business is all about is being a team of wedding cake bakers and decorators.Your company may or may not issue shares, but if you include this in your articles of association then you can choose to issue them if and when needed. Things may change as you grow and develop your business, so you have to think about all the possibilities.How your organise your company will need to be included. You would state your business address, how many directors you have, information about your original shareholder(s) and directors etc.Every Limited Company will have very different articles of association drawn up that are unique to your business. If you need some specialist help or advice about what you should include in your articles of association, then get in touch with us - we would be pleased to help you!

Your Virtual Office London

When forming a company it is interpretative that you are fully aware of the whole process from start to finish. We are experts in forming companies and provide our clients with market leading advice that is free and comes with no obligations from you whatsoever.We have a team of accountants who specialise in business accounting and can also help with any tax questions you may have. They will be happy to discuss the tax benefits of forming a Limited Company.We also provide other services to help supplement our company formation, such as mail forwarding in London and directors service address. What ever the question do please contact our friendly team today, we are on hand to help, we talk your language.

SIC stands for Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities. This is designed to classify Limited companies by their type of business activity. A new version of the SIC codes was introduced on the 1st January 2008.It is compulsory that each UK registered company has SIC codes, or at least one SIC code for their business. This is the code that essentially describes what sort of business the company conducts and it must be registered to Companies House. each company selects one or more codes that reflects the nature of their business from an official list of codes.Your SIC codes(s) are the way Companies House and other official bodies can identify what companies actually do and is also a way to sort each company into a business category that is relevant for their sector or niche. Your company's SIC code classification is listed on the public record so anyone can look up what sort of business you are.Each SIC code is sorted into trade or business sectors and grouped together in similar trade classifications, so for example if your company is a market garden type operation you may fall under the ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’ group. Within this group there are 40 different SIC codes that apply to different aspects of the sector, such as ‘growing of cereal crops’, 'raising dairy cattle' through to ‘marine fishing’.Some of the trade classification categories can go from the sublime to the ridiculous and can be very specific. However strange some of the SIC code descriptions sound they make perfect sense to those in that particular industry. Silviculture, anyone? (the growing and cultivation of trees).

Can my company have more than one SIC code?

Most companies will choose a single SIC code that best reflects the type of business they conduct, but if necessary you can choose up to four different SIC codes should your business require them. Some companies can be quite complex in structure and may specialise in more than one area.

Does every new company need a SIC code?

As of the 30th June 2016, every UK registered company needs to have at least one SIC code. You will need one when forming a new company and it should be a code that best describes the business activity that you plan to carry out. Companies House will reject any new company formation requests unless a valid SIC code is included with the application.SIC codes will only need to be included in a company's confirmation statement if they have been changed during the year or since they submitted their last confirmation statement. A company may have been formed with one SIC code but then added further codes if the business changed in any way, such as diversifying what they produce or expanding their company and changing their operations.A company that was formed before 30th June 2016 that has not yet submitted their confirmation statement, then their SIC codes will need to be submitted along with their first confirmation statement - but not in later returns, unless more SIC codes are added.For businesses who have already sent in their confirmation statement, the only time they will need to report their SIC codes again is if any of them are changed or more codes added, but this does not need to be reported immediately. It is perfectly fine to report these changes with the next confirmation statement.To take a look at the current list of SIC codes that are available click here.If you are yet to form your company you may be confused about which SIC code or codes you should select. You don't want to get your choice wrong after all! Don't worry too much because Companies House are pretty understanding and as yet have never taken any action against a company that made a wrong initial choice. Sometimes there will not be a SIC code that perfectly matches what your company does, so it is fine to choose something as close to your industry as you can from the available list.Since the introduction of SIC codes and publication of the original list of codes, there have been revisions published in 1958, 1968, 1980, 1992, 1997, 2003, and 2007. There are likely to be more revisions as the business world continues to evolve and new business categories added to the list.If the whole idea of SIC codes still seems confusing for you, or you would like some helpful advice and guidance about which SIC code fits the best with your type of business, do not hesitate to contact us for our help!Your Virtual Office London are leading experts in company formations, we have helped thousands of small businesses take the jump from sole trader to Limited Company. Forming a company can be difficult if you are unsure of the full process.From Limited Company accounts, mail forwarding, virtual offices and a registered office address, we can help talk through any questions you may have in plain and simple English.

A good standing certificate is simply a certificate the shows the company has been in a continuous and unbroken existence since the date of its first incorporation. It also states that there is no action being taken against the company, such as a strike off.

What does my company needs in order have a good standing certificate to be issued?

First of all its important that your annual return or confirmation statement is filed and up to date. You will also need to have:A private Ltd company needs to have one director that is a natural person.For a public limited company 2 directors are needed and a secretary.A Certificate of Good Standing is issued by Companies House and will be sent to you by post to your company’s registered office address. If you prefer, you can apply for and download an electronic copy, however this will not have the signature of a Companies House official signatory and so is may not carry such an equal gravitas as an official printed and signed copy.

What other details can I include on the good standing certificate?

The following details can be included upon request:

• Directors names
• Secretaries names
• Registered office
• Issued capital
• Shareholders
• Company objects
• Date of birth
• Nationality
• Other factual details if needed

Do I really need a Certificate of Good Standing?

Most companies operating in the UK may not have a particular need for a Certificate of Good Standing. However, having one does demonstrate to others that the company is meeting its regulatory obligations. A company director can very rightly be proud of their achievements so having a certificate can show that the company is professional and well organised. This can be a great morale booster for the company directors and shareholders as well as give confidence to customers or clients and suppliers of the business.One of the main benefits of having a Certificate of Good Standing is when you are planning to conduct business abroad. If you’re setting up a foreign branch of your company in another country, you will usually need to provide a Certificate of Good Standing to that country's official registrar, or what they class as the equivalent of Companies House in their country.

How can I get a certificate of good standing?

You can contact us today, and we can help arrange a certificate of good standing for a very reasonable fee. It normally take up to 7 days to complete. We can offer a same day service, this is more expensive but a good option for time sensitive requirements. Please feel free to read our business blog, where more information on company formation, virtual offices and other services can be found.

The disqualified directors register is for people who were directors of Limited Companies or members or LLP`s and who have been disqualified either via a court order or by going through the insolvency service. The register will show the Companies Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA), which the director would have been disqualified under.

How does directors disqualification work?

Many people believe that if your company goes into liquidation then the director(s) will automatically be disqualified. This is not true, unless the circumstances show that you were committing fraud or were acting wrongly in your role in the eyes of the law. Companies can go into liquidation for all sorts of reasons, but it does not mean that the company director will then be disqualified and have to go onto the disqualified directors register.Having a company going into liquidation does not prevent you from taking on another directorship or starting another limited company. There is no assumption of wrongdoing or wrongful trading.The whole point of the Companies Directors Disqualification Act 1986, is to keep a register of those directors who were found to be 'unfit' for the role and effectively ban them from becoming directors of a limited liability company in the future. Being added to the register is the last resort, and the step is only taken when that person has been proven to have acted fraudulently, wrongfully or conducted themselves very badly in the role. It is up to the government to prove this before any action can be taken to ban a director and add their name to the register.In 2015, the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act introduced additional measures to ban directors who have run insolvent businesses fraudulently in the past or have badly influenced other directors in their roles. Company directors can also now be disqualified and put on the register if they are involved in company offences overseas. The new amendments now give a court more time (an increase of a year) to review evidence that may take longer to obtain and study.

What is classed as unfit behaviour?

Here is a list of the main points that the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (DeBIS) seeks to ban directors on:

• Failure to submit annual accounts to Companies House on time
• Failure to submit annual returns to Companies House on time
• Excessive salaries or drawings when the company was plainly insolvent
• Trading on when he or she knew the company was insolvent (also known as trading whilst knowingly insolvent)
• Continuing to take credit when there was "no reasonable prospect" of creditors being paid
• Misrepresentation of the facts about the company
• Failure to respond or comply with a liquidator's requests

It is still reassuring to know that in the UK director's disqualifications are still pretty rare. Up to 2015 there were only around 1,000 to 1,500 disqualifications each year on average. The public are able to report directors that they suspect of wrong doing or fraud to either the Insolvency Service, Companies House or the Serious Fraud Office. There is an online government advice page here.It is important to remember that a CDDA only applies where the company has gone into liquidation; it does not apply in a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).

What happens after you are banned as a director?

When disqualified and placed on the disqualified directors register, you may not take on a role as a director or manager during your disqualification period. Doing so is considered a criminal offence.Should you become a director or manager while disqualified, you may find yourself landed with a prison conviction for up to 2 years or a hefty fine - or even both! Not only this, but you could become personally liable for all the debts carried by the company.On a side note - even a manager or director who acts under the instruction of a disqualified director can find themselves personally liable for company debts - so take care not to be working under the influence of a disqualified director!

Why is there a disqualified directors register kept by Companies House?

Under Section 18 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the Secretary of State must legally maintain a register. Companies House carries out this function under this act.

Am I able to receive a copy of the disqualification order?

You are unable to obtain a copy of the disqualification order from Companies House. Court officials obtain your information from the order to help complete the form, they will then notify Companies House with the correct information regarding the disqualification.

How can I see the disqualified directors register?

You can view the Disqualified Directors register here. There is no cost to search the database.

The person I am looking for is not on the register?

If the person you are searching for is not on the register this would probably mean that the person either has not been disqualified or that the person was disqualified and the order has lapsed, which means it would have been deleted from this register. Lastly the person could have recently been disqualified but has yet to go on the register.

Can I act as a secretary even though I have been disqualified?

Someone who has been disqualified is able to act as a secretary, the act does prevent them from being company directors or LLP members but it does not apply to company secretaries.

I was made bankrupt, does this apply to me?

If you were made bankrupts then yes it does apply to you, if the bankruptcy is still in force, you cannot be a director of a Limited company or LLP member. The register for people who are bankrupt can be found here.If you were made bankrupt in Scotland, they will not show on the insolvency website. You will need to view the Accountancy in Bankruptcy website.Your Virtual Office London provides expert advice on Company Formations, Accountancy and Virtual Office Services including registered office address. If you need to speak to anyone, do contact us today, we are always happy to help.

Market Research is a form of study conducted to collect necessary information for your company, giving you great insight into your customer needs and opinions about your product or service, allowing you to take decisions forward based on the results you gather.

The Characteristics of Market Research

The scope of market research is more or less limitless. It takes into consideration all aspects relating to your business, such as:Location - geographical location, local markets, regional, national, European or international.Products - type of products / services studied; a group of products (e.g. cosmetics), a type of product (perfume), or a specific product (brand of perfume given).Time - the past market, present market or future market.The profile of buyers - by gender, age, socio-professional category, by level of education ...Profile of intermediaries or end users: resellers, retailers, wholesalers, makers, mothers, children.

Why use Market Research?

Market research is very useful if you are creating or launching a new product or service and you want to adapt it to fit with your consumer or client expectations. It makes sense to run a survey to measure the risks involved and know which direction to develop your product or service. This is a classic form of market research.The process of conducting market research is not complicated in itself, but many pitfalls can skew the results and lead to false conclusions. There are a lot of considerations to take on before you conduct your market research, such as the choice of survey mode, the number of people to be interviewed, the demographic you want to target, the preparation of the questionnaire and the analysis of data collected, are the keys to running a successful research project.

Steps to a Successful Study

Before launching a new product, a properly conducted investigation in the form of market research can limit your risks and help you know what direction to go in. Here are some of the most important points to consider before starting a market research campaign:

• Anticipate the actual needs of your customers.
• Consider all information as important.
• Learn from the competition.
• Take the best information from your customers.
• Perform a survey.
• Collect as much information as possible by telephone or face-to-face.
• Define accurately the expectations of your customers.
• Estimate figures on your competition more accurately.
• Get help from a trusted person who knows about your project.
• Measure the potential of your customers.
• Perform market research specifically tailored to your product / service.
• Look for information at official statistical agencies.
• Learn about the demand and competition by region.
• Make sure your product / service does not already exist.

Samples

Make sure that your target audience is relevant. What are your competitive advantages over other businesses in the same niche? Identifying your customer needs and the potential for success in your relevant sector are the pillars of good market research.To do this you need to do some thorough sampling. This is the part that is responsible for capturing relevant data from primary sources, or 'samples' of the demographic you are targeting with your product or service. You then can analyse and generalise the results to a percentage of the population from which it was extracted.The idea generally consists of obtaining sufficiently representative samples to generate conclusions that apply to the entire target population. So for example if your target audience for your product or service is women aged 25 to 40, you would focus your market research on as many women that fit this age range as you can, analyse the feedback and draw conclusions from your results.If 8 out of 10 women surveyed during your market research were positive about your product or service and stated that they would be happy to buy from you once it was available, then you can say from those results that your business is very likely to succeed and do well. However, if the results were opposite and only 2 out of 10 women surveyed actually liked your product or service, then you wouldn't be advised to launch your business and it would most certainly mean going back to the drawing board with your idea.

Further Points to Consider

• Keep up to date with the latest news and market trends for your business niche or sector. Regularly read publications and follow journalists who report on your business sector for all the latest insights that you may find interesting or helpful.
• If you can attend networking meetings with professionals in the same industry or who work in a complementary industry to yours, then you may well be able to share market research results and industry knowledge that others have already conducted. You may be able to join forces with another business and pool your resources to conduct a much larger market research project that will benefit the both of you.
• Networking can also introduce you to industry experts and seasoned professionals that can offer you great resources and information when you are first starting out. Many business veterans have written books or journals, analysed and published their market research results and finding that you may find very useful, so you can often pick up free or discounted copies of their work to help you even further.
• To have a chance of making your own market research valid, you must try to survey at least 500 people to get a really good cross section of results. Even if your new venture is a start-up company, the aspect of conducting good market research should not be dismissed. Using your findings to help you with promotional and marketing campaigns can really give your product or service the boost that is required.

Of course, you don't have to do every single interview or survey personally! You can hire virtual staff to run the market research for you once you have planned out and finalised your methods. Capital Office can help you with this with our Virtual Office service. For more information about how we can help you build your business contact us today for a friendly chat.

Virtual assistants: we hear a lot about them nowadays, but still probably are not quite sure exactly what they do or what they mean to businesses like yours.The truth is though, that the services virtual assistants specialise in can be of great benefit to help you grow your business and increase your sales. Here are just some of the important aspects that a virtual assistant can help you with:

Advantages

The advantages of hiring a virtual assistant is that you don't have to provide an office for them, they can work remotely. The duties they perform can be done from their own home and the hours can be flexible too meaning it does not require large investments into renting office space, infrastructure, heating and lighting or insurance.

Some of the tasks a virtual assistant performs are:

Receiving business calls on your behalf, receiving, replying to and forwarding emails, conducting customer surveys, telemarketing work, providing information about your company to prospective clients or customers, the sending and receiving of paper-based mail, managing claims towards the company, making payment and authorising transactions for services, filing documents and various other admin tasks.Here are some of those tasks discussed in some more depth and why the virtual assistant can be crucial to the smooth running of a business, especially a new start-up working with a very limited budget.

Social Networks

Virtual assistants have the skills required to open accounts in social networks, write, distribute and manage the content over these channels. They are experts who know how to attract and engage with people, market goods and services, promote your business brand and raise awareness of your company.All these tasks take time and patience. Some companies do not feel very comfortable using social networks because of a lack of knowledge or training. Some managers simply do not have the time to dedicate to this themselves or cannot afford to divert existing staff from their duties to focus on building up their social media presence. However, if these tasks are carried out by the right virtual assistant, your business can achieve great success.

Newsletters

Creating regular print newsletters, email newsletters and email alerts can help build a relationship between your company and their customers. Some companies do not enjoy building and maintaining the communications side of the business, but its is very important to maintain contact with existing customers that have already purchased from you and attract the interest of those who may become new customers in the future. Regular electronic newsletters should be sent at least every two weeks to maintain a good company awareness.More often than not however, most companies start with great enthusiasm for building customer relationships, but then the effort often dims due to the time spent on it as well as performing other multiple tasks daily. This is where a virtual assistant comes in very useful. They are able to take the full weight of this important function and maintaining it at a high level, creating a valuable tool for your marketing and sales. If you wish, they themselves will learn about your business and take care of the writing and publication for you.

Blogs, Articles and Press Releases

This is another speciality of virtual assistants. They know how to write engaging posts to reach the public with the right tone and enough interesting information to attract new social media followers, get good post shares to raise company awareness, and even create a sale.Every day, thousands of people read informative and useful blogs and articles on the internet. A good virtual assistant can play this field with an article or message with the exact content you wanted to convey. This is essential if your goal is to keep the audience's attention on your business every day.

Webpages

Most businesses think that once you pay for the design and construction of a Website, its a completed operation and that's it, job done! But in reality, it's not quite that simple. Your website needs to routinely refresh and change with new content being added and regular updates made to its format and design as technology moves on. Virtual assistants can achieve this for you too, by posting fresh content, editing and updating current content to keep it relevant and adding images to break up posts and pages with heavy blocks of text.Within this website we can also use the aforementioned social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google plus, Pinterest, Instagram, press releases, email messages, blogs). This is an effective way to keep customers engaged and connected to your company.A good virtual assistant specialising in the maintenance of webpages can advise you about the best methods to maintain an attractive, informative site, the latest software updates and what is most important to attract and engage public attention.These are just some of the areas where virtual assistants are well trained and can help you in order to grow your business at a place like Capital Office.It is very important that you discuss with your virtual assistant your exact goals for your business, so they can tailor their work to suit your needs.