An Elaborate Guide On Company Restoration In The UK

Whether you had decided to strike off a business voluntarily or were forced to clamp it down temporarily, this guide can provide detailed instructions on how to restore your company in the UK.

The guide will also look into the common duration that it takes for your restoration process to be completed as well as how to request a special consideration once your restoration is rejected.

In what circumstances is your dissolved business eligible for restoration?

Businesses can be restored to the Company House registry on different grounds. Particularly, in the case where former shareholders or directors see the trading prospect of their previously dissolved business, they can decide to reinstate it. In other circumstances, a company in the UK can be restored through a registration submitted by a creditor of the business at the period of termination.

If there is any individual who allegedly holds a legal claim against the dissolved company or demonstrates mutual interest in an asset with the company in question, a reinstatement is also required to solve such conflicts.

The business that wished to be restored must be in operation within 6 years that the application is filed. Plus, the company director has to ensure that the business was operative and trading at the time of dissolution.

Who has the authority over the company restoration process?

The company’s director or shareholder will be fully responsible for making the decision as well as following through with the restoration process. Once a restoration request or commonly referred to as administrative has been recorded, the court will be in charge of reviewing your request.

Be reminded that the application must be submitted to the competent authority depending on where the company was registered.

A request should be sent to the registry of the Companies Court in London on behalf of an English or Welsh-registered business. If you are restoring a company that was registered in Scotland, you must file an application with the Court of Session, and in Northern Ireland, you must file with the Royal Courts of Justice.

How can you get started with administrative restoration in the UK?

Administrative restoration is the most direct approach to restoring your company since the business can fill and submit the application to Companies House without applying for a court order. This method is often utilized by directors whose businesses were forced to dissolve while their trading potential remains.

During the preparation process, the company’s director or shareholder will be required to fill out the mandatory administrative restoration application – form RT01. The company’s owner will also need to incorporate a cheque in the amount of £100 which will be payable to the Companies House. If your company possesses any outstanding documentation, for instance, accounts, filing fees, penalty payments, or confirmation statements, it will also be requisite for you to include them in your application. In the case where your business had any assets, a waiver letter from Bona Vacantia is required to be included in your file.

Once you have everything ready and wrapped up, send your entire application and relevant documentation to the Companies House at Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ.

However, we fully comprehend that the whole preparation and submission of your company restoration can be hectic, especially when you are juggling multiple businesses at the same time. It is never too late to consult an agency that is well-versed and has years of experience in helping company owners in the UK reinstate their business.

Curious about what else we offer? Take a look for yourself at our diverse pool of services pertaining to business administration services in the UK to see what works for you.

In the scenario where your application gets refused, what can you do?

Unfortunately, once your company restoration application is submitted, there is little guarantee that it will be granted on the first attempt. However, do not be discouraged, we still have the option of applying for a court order. The process will include completing a separate form called the N208 form to claim a court order for your company restoration request.

Moreover, you will be asked to provide evidence to support the verification of your company’s credentials in the form of a witness statement. In the evidence, you should be able to demonstrate the following details, among others:

• The rationale for the application
• The explanation of why the company was removed from the register
• The company’s future if reinstated

For an exhaustive list of what evidence is needed in court, please refer to the Companies Court Practice Note here.

If your sole purpose in restoring a company is to reclaim assets (such as money or property), you do not need to file overdue documents or pay late filing fines. Instead, the Claimant must provide the Courts an assurance that the company will not trade again and will be liquidated as soon as the assets have been obtained.

After having your claim form and witness statement ready, you can now send these documents to the court according to the location where your business resides. Subsequently, upon receiving the issued claim form from the court, you will need to send the Registrar of Companies and the Treasury Solicitor a copy of the issued claim form and the signed witness statement.

The Treasury Solicitor will issue a response with documents of your company that is required to be assessed by the Registrar of Companies. Once you have submitted the required documents, start preparing and sending in fees to the Treasury Solicitor and a witness statement with a waiver letter to the court.

If your application is appropriate you will receive a draft order and form of undertaking from the Treasury Solicitor. These papers need to be signed and sent to the court so that you will receive a sealed copy of such order that you will later need to supply to the Registrar of Companies.

How long does it take to successfully restore a business in the UK?

It will usually take approximately 4 months for your application to reach the final stage where you will be issued with a complete reinstatement right of your company. The duration of your application also depends on the conditions and the methods through which you submitted it.

Evidently, this process is quite lengthy and demands thorough planning and execution in order to yield the most favorable for your business. Seeking assistance from professionals and experts in the field can be incredibly vital if you wish to expedite the entire application.

To sum up

In this guide, we have walked you through the two most substantial approaches that you can adopt to reinstate your business in the UK, which is administrative restoration and court order.
In fact, The restoration of a dissolved company in the UK could be a challenging endeavor due to its complexity and long wait time.

Nonetheless, with the apt instructions and assistance from an experienced third party, you can save your time from all the worries and stress associated with intricate paperwork. Get in touch with our team of experts and get your company up and running again quickly!