Key aspects of the Act - which is meant to help reduce costs and red tape - will certainly affect your business.

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Directors have always had a duty to act in good faith in the best interest of the company, avoid conflicts of interests, not profit from their offices, plus a duty of care and skill. But from October 2007 directors have a new clear code of conduct with seven specific duties outlined below.

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In basic terms the limited liability company allows commerce to flourish by enabling credit to be extended with minimum risk to all parties and is an important factor in the trading success of the United Kingdom.

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Drive, vision and determination - you have it in abundance and are ready to take it full-steam ahead into the highly attractive world of working for yourself, but do you have the necessary knowledge to start out on the right track?

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The UK has become a nation of landlords! Low inflation, stock market volatility, uncertainty over pensions, dramatic house price rises and less risky housing laws have combined with the success of buy to let to allow people to invest in property on a scale never seen before in the UK.

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KFC, Burger King and McDonalds; these are probably the names that spring to mind when you hear the word “franchise”. However, in truth there are a variety of franchises out there offering you the opportunity to set up a business with an already tried and tested formula and you might find that this is the easiest way to move into self-employment.

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Each trading form has its own advantages and disadvantages. Choosing the best option depends on what you want from your business.

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The proof of a good business plan is steady profits. Moreover, any prospective lender will base their decision on your plan. So what does it take to produce a good one?

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Choosing a company name has never been more important. Although the average small business takes only one or two days to choose a name it is essential to look at the possibilities and advantages of making a particular name as memorable and relevant as possible

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What happens if a company wants to stop trading? Who can apply to have a company struck off and what conditions need to be fulfilled? What if you change your mind or provide false or misleading information?

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The registrar may consider a company to be defunct if annual returns and accounts are not filed on time. If this is the case the registrar may send a series of warnings to the company's registered office.

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Many small businesses are partnerships. Yet circumstances and ambitions change, partners fall out or die. Without a good partnership agreement things can get acrimonious. Here's how to protect yourself from the start.

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Once a company has been struck off, there is a set procedure to follow before a company can be restored and this can be time consuming and stressful. Restoration cannot be done without a court order and the paperwork requested is very specific.

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Everyone has heard of the footsie one-hundred (FTSE), the list of the top UK companies in the stock market, but for many people that is as far as their knowledge goes.

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"I’ve just thought of another reason for forming an LLP!"
A head had come round the door to make this cheeky comment; but the Companies House LLP team shrugged it off and continued to process a trickle of orders for limited liability partnerships.

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So, a British company is cheap to register and is lightly regulated and therein lies the attraction. Almost anyone is allowed to register a company in the UK, and that includes people of any nationality even if they live on the other side of the globe.

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what are the key proposals of the companies act 2006?
"Think small first" is the government's approach to the Act, but the fact that it is the largest Act of parliament ever passed with a total of 1,264 clauses to date, makes for complicated reading.

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