Registry entry

United Kingdom Private Limited Company Incorporation (Form IN01)

Register (incorporate) a private company limited by shares with Companies House using form IN01, made under Section 9 of the Companies Act 2006. Scoped to the single-director, single-subscriber, single-share-class case most relevant to an individual forming their own company (the GB counterpart to a US single-member LLC formation) — the common case where one person is the sole director, the sole initial shareholder/subscriber, and the sole person with significant control (PSC). Public companies, companies limited by guarantee, unlimited companies, corporate directors/secretaries, multiple share classes, multiple subscribers, multiple PSCs, and 'other registrable persons'/'relevant legal entities' are out of scope of this document; see VERIFICATION.md. It does not submit the registration; the live gov.uk/Companies House source is always authoritative.

You are viewing v1.0.0

The latest published version of this schema is v1.1.0 — see the current reference page. Published versions are immutable; this page stays for agents pinned to gb/companies-house/company-incorporation-in01@1.0.0.

Registry entry

gb/companies-house/company-incorporation-in01

Jurisdiction
United Kingdom · national
Version
1.0.0
Verification
draft
Authority
Companies House

GovSchema spec v0.2

Authoritative source IN01 (Application to register a company), version 12.0, February 2026

Machine access

Schema document
registry/gb/companies-house/company-incorporation-in01/1.0.0/schema.jsonapplication/schema+json
Verification record
registry/gb/companies-house/company-incorporation-in01/1.0.0/VERIFICATION.mdtext/markdown
Registry catalog
registry/index.jsonone record per schema id

Field reference

79 fields across 9 steps, read from the published schema.json — names, types, requiredness, and validation as the document states them. The live government form remains the authoritative source.

Company name

  • companyName string required

    Must be checked for availability and against naming rules (duplicate/'same as' names, sensitive words, offensive names) before submission; must end in 'Limited' or 'Ltd' ('Cyfyngedig' or 'Cyf' for a Welsh company) unless the applicant separately qualifies for and applies for the guarantee/charity name-ending exemption, which this document does not model (private-limited-by-shares scope only).

    length: 1–160

Company's activity or activities

  • sicCode1 string optional

    UK SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) 2007 code from Companies House's condensed list, e.g. 62012. Required unless businessActivityDescription is given instead.

    pattern
  • sicCode2 string optional

    Up to 4 SIC codes may be given in total.

    pattern
  • sicCode3 string optional

    Up to 4 SIC codes may be given in total.

    pattern
  • sicCode4 string optional

    Up to 4 SIC codes may be given in total.

    pattern
  • businessActivityDescription string optional

    A brief free-text description of the company's business activity, used only when no SIC code applies.

    length: 0–500

Registered office and registered email address

  • registeredOfficeSituation enum required

    Exactly one nation. Determines which nation the registeredOffice* address must be located in: England-and-Wales/Wales companies need an England-or-Wales address; Scotland and Northern Ireland companies need an address in that nation respectively.

    enum: england_and_wales | wales | scotland | northern_ireland
  • registeredOfficeAddressLine1 string required

    Every company must have a registered office, the address to which the Registrar sends correspondence; it appears on the public record. Must be an 'appropriate address' (post addressed there would be expected to come to a person acting for the company, and delivery can be confirmed) — a Royal Mail PO Box alone is no longer permitted. The source form splits this into 'Building name/number' and 'Street'; this document combines them into one line per registry convention (cf. gb/co/register-to-vote).

    length: 1–160
  • registeredOfficeAddressLine2 string optional

    Combines the source form's separate 'Post town' and 'County/Region' lines.

    length: 0–120
  • registeredOfficePostcode string required

    UK postcode, e.g. SW1A 1AA.

    length: 0–10
  • registeredEmailAddress string required

    Must be an address emails from the Registrar would be expected to reach a person acting for the company. Only one address is given. Not shown on the public record.

    length: 0–254

Articles of association

  • articlesOption enum required

    For a private company limited by shares (this document's scope): adopt the model articles for that company type unamended, adopt them with additional/amended provisions (a copy must be attached), or adopt entirely bespoke articles (a copy must be attached).

    enum: model_articles_unamended | model_articles_amended | bespoke_articles
  • restrictedArticles boolean optional

    Tick if the articles are 'restricted' (contain entrenchment provisions).

Director appointment

  • directorTitle string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–50
  • directorFirstNames string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. This document scopes to a single individual director; a private company must appoint at least one director who is an individual. Corporate directors and additional individual directors are out of scope.

    length: 1–100
  • directorSurname string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 1–100
  • directorFormerNames string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Any previous names, including maiden or married names, used for business purposes in the last 20 years.

    length: 0–200
  • directorNationality string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–100
  • directorCountryOfResidence string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–100
  • directorDateOfBirth date required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. YYYY-MM-DD. A director must be 16 or over. Only the month and year appear on the public record; the full date is collected but withheld from public disclosure (Section D3 is not shown on the public record).

  • directorServiceAddressSameAsRegisteredOffice boolean optional

    If true, directorServiceAddress* fields are not separately required.

  • directorServiceAddressLine1 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Appears on the public record; does not have to be the director's usual residential address. Required unless directorServiceAddressSameAsRegisteredOffice is true.

    length: 0–160
  • directorServiceAddressLine2 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–120
  • directorServiceAddressCountry string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Unlike the registered office, a director's service address is not restricted to the UK.

    length: 0–100
  • directorServiceAddressPostcode string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–10
  • directorResidentialAddressSameAsServiceAddress boolean optional

    Cannot be true if the service address was stated as 'the company's registered office' — a full residential address is required in that case. This section is not shown on the public record.

  • directorResidentialAddressLine1 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record. Required unless directorResidentialAddressSameAsServiceAddress is true. Cannot be a PO Box, DX, or Scottish legal-post number.

    length: 0–160
  • directorResidentialAddressLine2 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record.

    length: 0–120
  • directorResidentialAddressCountry string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record.

    length: 0–100
  • directorResidentialAddressPostcode string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record.

    length: 0–10
  • directorSection243ExemptionApplied boolean optional

    A section 243 exemption prevents the director's usual residential address being disclosed to credit reference agencies. If applying with this notice, the whole form must be posted (not filed online) to the Registrar of Companies, PO Box 4082, Cardiff CF14 3WE.

  • directorIdentityVerified boolean required

    Statutory requirement: an individual director must have verified their identity (via GOV.UK One Login or an Authorised Corporate Service Provider) before or as part of appointment/incorporation.

  • directorPersonalCode string optional

    An 11-character code issued to a person once they have verified their identity with Companies House. Personal to the individual, not to any company. Required to accompany a true directorIdentityVerified in most cases.

    length: 11–11
  • directorNameMatchesVerifiedName boolean optional

    Non-statutory information. If false, give directorNameMismatchReason.

  • directorNameMismatchReason enum optional

    Only relevant when directorNameMatchesVerifiedName is false.

    enum: legally_changed_name | preferred_name | translation_or_different_naming_convention | prefer_not_to_say

Statement of capital

  • shareCurrency string required

    ISO 4217 currency code, e.g. GBP. This document scopes to a single currency and a single class of shares; the source form supports a separate table per currency and per class.

    pattern
  • shareClassName string required

    E.g. 'Ordinary'.

    length: 1–100
  • numberOfSharesIssued integer required

    Total number of shares of this class issued on incorporation.

    range: 1–∞
  • nominalValuePerShare number required

    In shareCurrency.

    range: 0–∞
  • aggregateNominalValue number required

    Number of shares issued multiplied by nominal value, in shareCurrency.

    range: 0–∞
  • aggregateAmountUnpaid number optional

    Total unpaid on the shares, including any share premium, in shareCurrency. Defaults to 0 (fully paid) if not given.

    range: 0–∞
  • prescribedParticularsOfShares string required

    Must describe: any voting rights (including rights arising only in certain circumstances); any rights to participate in a dividend distribution; any rights to participate in a capital distribution (including on winding up); and whether the shares are redeemable at the option of the company or the shareholder.

    length: 0–1000

Initial shareholding (subscriber)

  • subscriberName string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The subscriber is the initial shareholder who subscribes their name to the memorandum of association. This document scopes to a single subscriber, matching the single-director/single-shareholder individual use case; the source form supports multiple subscribers.

    length: 1–160
  • subscriberAddressLine1 string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Appears on the public record; does not have to be the subscriber's usual residential address.

    length: 0–160
  • subscriberAddressLine2 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–120
  • subscriberAddressCountry string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–100
  • subscriberAddressPostcode string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–10

People with significant control (PSC)

  • statementOfNoSignificantControl boolean optional

    Tick only if the company knows or has reason to believe there will be no person with significant control (registrable person) or registrable relevant legal entity on incorporation. If true, the pscFirstNames/pscSurname/... fields are not applicable. Uncommon in the single-shareholder case this document scopes to.

  • pscFirstNames string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required unless statementOfNoSignificantControl is true. This document scopes to a single individual PSC (often the same person as the director/subscriber); registrable relevant legal entities and 'other registrable persons' are out of scope.

    length: 0–100
  • pscSurname string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required unless statementOfNoSignificantControl is true.

    length: 0–100
  • pscFormerNames string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–200
  • pscNationality string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required unless statementOfNoSignificantControl is true.

    length: 0–100
  • pscCountryOfResidence string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required unless statementOfNoSignificantControl is true.

    length: 0–100
  • pscDateOfBirth date optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. YYYY-MM-DD. Required unless statementOfNoSignificantControl is true. Full date is collected but not shown on the public record.

  • pscServiceAddressSameAsRegisteredOffice boolean optional

    If true, pscServiceAddress* fields are not separately required.

  • pscServiceAddressLine1 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Appears on the public record; does not have to be the PSC's usual residential address.

    length: 0–160
  • pscServiceAddressLine2 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–120
  • pscServiceAddressCountry string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–100
  • pscServiceAddressPostcode string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–10
  • pscResidentialAddressSameAsServiceAddress boolean optional

    This section is not shown on the public record.

  • pscResidentialAddressLine1 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record. Required unless pscResidentialAddressSameAsServiceAddress is true. Cannot be a PO Box, DX, or Scottish legal-post number.

    length: 0–160
  • pscResidentialAddressLine2 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record.

    length: 0–120
  • pscResidentialAddressCountry string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record.

    length: 0–100
  • pscResidentialAddressPostcode string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Not shown on the public record.

    length: 0–10
  • pscSection790ZFExemptionApplied boolean optional

    A section 790ZF exemption prevents the PSC's usual residential address being disclosed to credit reference agencies. If applying with this notice, the whole form must be posted (not filed online) to the Registrar of Companies, PO Box 4082, Cardiff CF14 3WE.

  • pscShareOwnershipBand enum optional

    The percentage of shares the PSC holds directly or indirectly, if this is a nature of their control. Tick only one band.

    enum: over_25_up_to_50 | more_than_50_less_than_75 | 75_or_more
  • pscVotingRightsBand enum optional

    The percentage of voting rights the PSC holds directly or indirectly, if this is a nature of their control. Tick only one band.

    enum: over_25_up_to_50 | more_than_50_less_than_75 | 75_or_more
  • pscRightToAppointRemoveDirectors boolean optional

    Directly or indirectly.

  • pscSignificantInfluenceOrControl boolean optional

    Only tick if none of pscShareOwnershipBand, pscVotingRightsBand, or pscRightToAppointRemoveDirectors applies. At least one nature-of-control field must be set for a registered PSC.

  • pscIdentityVerified boolean optional

    Statutory requirement introduced alongside director identity verification. Required unless statementOfNoSignificantControl is true.

  • pscPersonalCode string optional

    An 11-character code issued once the PSC has verified their identity with Companies House. Only complete if the PSC has verified their identity and shared their personal code.

    length: 11–11
  • pscNameMatchesVerifiedName boolean optional

    Non-statutory information. If false, give pscNameMismatchReason.

  • pscNameMismatchReason enum optional

    Only relevant when pscNameMatchesVerifiedName is false.

    enum: legally_changed_name | preferred_name | translation_or_different_naming_convention | prefer_not_to_say

Verification record

This file is the source-review record for this document version, per the manual-source-review-v1 practice. It documents the provenance of the published fields and flow and states the current verification claim honestly.

Current claim

  • status: draft
  • verification.method: manual-source-review-v1
  • verification.lastVerifiedAt: 2026-07-01

The document was derived from and cross-checked against the official sources below, but the full field-by-field comparison the practice requires (manual-source-review-v1 → Procedure step 2) has not yet been completed and recorded against the live register-a-company-online service screens. It therefore remains draft, not verified.

Why this schema and why now (GOV-179)

GOV-179 asked for a catalog audit, a gap-research pass, and a new schema. The registry audit (21 published schemas across US, GB, IE, CA, NZ, AU, DE) shows heavy concentration in identity documents (8 passport schemas) and almost no coverage of company formation, despite it being named explicitly in the foundation's charter ("company formation, visas, DMV, passports and beyond"). The discovery catalog already lists four company-formation candidates — gb/companies-house/company-incorporation-in01, us/ca/sos/business-entity-llc-formation, ie/cro/company-incorporation, ca/on/registration/business-incorporation — and none had been authored. GB's Companies House was chosen first because (a) it is a single national authority (unlike the US, where formation is state-administered), (b) it publishes a single current form (IN01) with a directly retrievable PDF, and (c) it pairs naturally with the already-published GB reference schemas (gb/co/register-to-vote, gb/dvla/vehicle-tax, gb/hmrc/self-assessment-tax-return-sa100) to keep building out GB's authority coverage.

Sources examined

  • Document (id, version): gb/companies-house/company-incorporation-in01 / 1.0.0
  • Spec version: GovSchema 0.2.0
  • Authority: Companies House (the UK's registrar of companies).
  • Primary source URL: https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-company, plus its linked sub-pages (company-address, memorandum-and-articles-of-association, documents, directors-secretaries-and-shareholders, choose-company-name), and https://www.gov.uk/guidance/people-with-significant-control-pscs.
  • Primary form source: IN01 ("Application to register a company"), version 12.0 (02/26), a fillable PDF hosted at assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696f5dc3c0f4afaa9536a082/IN01_v12.0-FINAL.pdf, found via web search since it is not linked from the guidance pages that WebFetch could reach directly. Retrieved and decompressed/parsed directly (zlib-inflated content streams, parenthesized-string text extraction) — the same technique used for the SA100 and ITR-E PDF-derived schemas — so every field below is read from the form's own text, not a secondary summary.
  • Official form id: IN01.
  • Retrieved / reviewed: 2026-07-01.
  • Reviewer: GovSchema Engineering (initial authoring source-review).

What was confirmed against the source

| IN01 section | Field(s) | |---|---| | A1 — Company name | companyName | | A5 — Principal business activity | sicCode1-sicCode4, businessActivityDescription | | A6 — Situation of registered office | registeredOfficeSituation | | A7 — Registered office address | registeredOfficeAddressLine1, registeredOfficeAddressLine2, registeredOfficePostcode | | A10 — Registered email address | registeredEmailAddress | | A8/A9 — Articles of association | articlesOption, restrictedArticles | | D1 — Director appointments | directorTitle, directorFirstNames, directorSurname, directorFormerNames, directorNationality, directorCountryOfResidence | | D2 — Director's service address | directorServiceAddressSameAsRegisteredOffice, directorServiceAddressLine1/2, directorServiceAddressCountry, directorServiceAddressPostcode | | D3/D1 — Director's date of birth | directorDateOfBirth | | D4 — Director's usual residential address, Section 243 exemption | directorResidentialAddressSameAsServiceAddress, directorResidentialAddressLine1/2, directorResidentialAddressCountry, directorResidentialAddressPostcode, directorSection243ExemptionApplied | | D5/D6 — Director's identity verification details | directorIdentityVerified, directorPersonalCode, directorNameMatchesVerifiedName, directorNameMismatchReason | | F1 — Statement of capital | shareCurrency, shareClassName, numberOfSharesIssued, nominalValuePerShare, aggregateNominalValue, aggregateAmountUnpaid | | F2 — Prescribed particulars of rights attached to shares | prescribedParticularsOfShares | | F3 — Initial shareholdings (subscriber) | subscriberName, subscriberAddressLine1/2, subscriberAddressCountry, subscriberAddressPostcode | | H2 — Statement of no PSC | statementOfNoSignificantControl | | I1 — Individual's details (PSC) | pscFirstNames, pscSurname, pscFormerNames, pscNationality, pscCountryOfResidence | | I2 — Individual's service address | pscServiceAddressSameAsRegisteredOffice, pscServiceAddressLine1/2, pscServiceAddressCountry, pscServiceAddressPostcode | | I3 — Individual's date of birth | pscDateOfBirth | | I4 — Individual's usual residential address, Section 790ZF exemption | pscResidentialAddressSameAsServiceAddress, pscResidentialAddressLine1/2, pscResidentialAddressCountry, pscResidentialAddressPostcode, pscSection790ZFExemptionApplied | | I5/I6 — PSC's identity verification details | pscIdentityVerified, pscPersonalCode, pscNameMatchesVerifiedName, pscNameMismatchReason | | I7 — Nature of control for an individual | pscShareOwnershipBand, pscVotingRightsBand, pscRightToAppointRemoveDirectors, pscSignificantInfluenceOrControl | | L1 — Consent statement | consentToActConfirmed | | M1 — Particulars of an individual PSC | individualPscParticularsConfirmed | | N1 — Lawful purpose | lawfulPurposeConfirmed | | Part 9 — Statement of compliance (P1/P2) | deliveredByAgent, agentName, subscriberPrintedName |

The general guidance pages separately confirmed: the registered-office "appropriate address" test and the PO-Box restriction (company-address), the model-articles-vs-bespoke choice (memorandum-and-articles-of-association, documents), the 25%/50%/75% PSC thresholds and the personal-detail list (people-with-significant-control-pscs), and the SIC-code cap of 4 codes from the condensed Companies House list (search results citing resources.companieshouse.gov.uk/sic/).

Scope narrowing and why

GovSchema v0.2 fields are flat (SPEC.md §6.1): there is no array or repeating-group construct, and composite/repeating values are tracked separately as a proposed future addition (GSP-0009). IN01 is a form built almost entirely around repeatable sections (any number of directors, secretaries, subscribers, PSCs, share classes and currencies), so a literal 1:1 transcription is not representable in v0.2. Rather than force an approximation, this document is scoped to the single-director, single-subscriber, single-share-class, single-PSC private-company-limited-by-shares case — the common individual scenario of one person incorporating their own company (the GB structural counterpart to a US single-member LLC, as already noted on the us/ca/sos/business-entity-llc-formation and gb/companies-house/company-incorporation-in01 discovery catalog entries). Concretely, out of scope for v1.0.0:

  • Public companies, companies limited by guarantee, and unlimited companies (Sections A4, G, name-ending exemption for guarantee/charity companies).
  • Corporate directors and corporate secretaries (Sections C1-C4, E1-E4) — modelled only for an individual director; no secretary appointment at all (optional for a private company and atypical in the single-member case this document targets).
  • More than one director, subscriber, share class/currency, or PSC — the source form's "continuation pages" for each of these are not modelled.
  • Registrable relevant legal entities and "other registrable persons" as PSCs (Sections J1-J5, K1-K6) — only an individual PSC, or a statement of no PSC.
  • The nature-of-control sub-cases where control is exercised via a firm or trust that is not a legal person (I8/I9) — only the four direct individual-control bases (shares, voting rights, right to appoint/remove directors, significant influence/control) are modelled.
  • Applicants who have applied for protection from having their PSC details disclosed on the public register (the form explicitly says not to use IN01 for this; a separate form is required).
  • Payment amount/method and the presenter-information block — administrative, not data an agent collects on the individual's behalf.

What is NOT yet independently verified

  • The exact online register-a-company-online service screen order and wording were not captured screen-by-screen; sourceRef annotations cite the IN01 v12.0 PDF's own section codes (A1, D1, F1, I1, etc.), which the online service is believed to mirror closely (Companies House's guidance describes the online service as covering the same data) but this was not independently confirmed field-by-field against the live online flow.
  • The SIC code format (^[0-9]{5}$) is inferred from example codes seen in secondary sources (e.g. 62012) and the "condensed list" cap of 4 codes; the exact regular structure of all valid codes on Companies House's condensed list (as opposed to the full ONS list) was not itself directly retrieved and verified.
  • The Companies House personal code length (11 characters) is stated directly by source text ("This is an 11 character code"), but its permitted character set was not specified by the source and is therefore constrained only by length (minLength/maxLength 11), not a pattern.
  • Whether identity verification (pscIdentityVerified) is strictly mandatory at incorporation for a PSC (as it now is for a director) was stated by secondary guidance (verify-your-identity-for-companies-house, reached via search, not the primary IN01 PDF) rather than confirmed in the IN01 form text itself, which frames the PSC identity-verification section (I5/I6) as something to complete "only if your PSC has verified their identity and shared their personal code with you" — i.e. the form itself treats it as conditional on having a code already, not as a blocking requirement of the application. pscIdentityVerified is therefore modelled as optional (required: false), unlike directorIdentityVerified, which the form states as a precondition ("Individual directors must have verified their identity...") and is modelled as required.
  • The address-field normalization (splitting each source address block into AddressLine1/AddressLine2/Country/Postcode, folding "Building name/number" + "Street" into one line and "Post town" + "County/Region" into another) is a GovSchema convention consistent with gb/co/register-to-vote and gb/dvla/vehicle-tax, not a 1:1 transcription of the source form's line layout.
  • The registration fee (a flat £100 online / £124 by cheque, per secondary sources reached via search) was not verified against a primary Companies House fee schedule and is not modelled as a field regardless, being payment metadata rather than applicant-collected data.

Path to a verified claim (next step)

To advance to status: verified, a reviewer applies manual-source-review-v1 (Procedure step 2) field-by-field against the live register-a-company-online service screens specifically (not just the IN01 PDF), confirms the SIC-code pattern and personal-code character set against a primary Companies House source, resolves any discrepancy by shipping a new schema version (immutability — VERSIONING §3, practice Procedure step 5), and records the outcome here plus sets status: verified with a current verification.lastVerifiedAt/nextReviewBy.

Re-verification

Per the practice's Cadence, nextReviewBy is set to 2027-01-01 (6 months). Re-check the source on or before that date and on any source.url change. Companies House identity-verification requirements were still in their 12-month transition period as of this authoring date (started 18 November 2025), so the mandatory/conditional framing of PSC identity verification is likely to firm up before the next review.

View the raw record (VERIFICATION.md)

Version history

Independent and non-affiliated

GovSchema is an independent, open-source project. This reference is not produced, reviewed, or endorsed by Companies House or any government. The authoritative source is always the live government form and its official instructions.