[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Brit-Speak: Vernon Dursley is a /Director/.

[Kathryn Cawte]

David
> I'm not quite sure what other forms of corporate governance might
> apply - I think even quite small businesses have limited liability
> ('Ltd' after their name) but I'm not sure how they are owned and run.
>

K

Not that this is relevant to Grunings from its apparent size, but ... for a
small limited company the rules are pretty much the same as for a huge
Limited company. You need one or more shareholders, one or more directors
and a company secretary (nb you can actually hire a company to do this for
you, there are companies which specialise in being company secretaries for
other companies). You have to produce a set of Accounts every year which
need to be submitted to Companies House alone with an Annual Return and also
need to be submitted to the Inland Revenue with your Company Tax Return. The
Accounts have to provide an accurate picture of the financial position of
the company and its assets/liabilities, alone with listing the shareholders.
They have to be signed by the Secretary and the Director. I believe that
anyone can access the Accounts and Return once they're lodged with Companies
House. The act of becoming Limited is not related to the Size of the Company
or it's financial situation. I work for an accountant and we have clients
with huge turnovers and quite a few staff who are just simple partnerships
and clients who work alone and make barely anything who are Limited
Companies. The main thing about a Limited Company is that it is an entity in
its own right in the eyes of the law. It can own property and take legal
action (or be the subject of legal action) whereas if a company isn't
limited the owner/partners have to act in their own names rather than in the
name of the company. Having limited liability is a *big* advantage because
if your company loses a law suit only the assets held in its name can be
seized, not everything owned by the partners (i.e. their houses, cars etc).
You do however have more responsibilities (filing the Returns and Accounts
etc) so it's a matter of weighing up if the benefits outweigh the  extra
work.

And that's way more than you or anyone else ever wanted to know - I work for
an accountant btw and know far more of this rubbish than I ever wanted to.

K