Service
Dormant or pre-trading UK company: keep it compliant cheaply
A company that has not traded still owes Companies House dormant accounts and a confirmation statement every year, and HMRC needs to be told it is dormant. We keep it alive for a fixed annual fee until you are ready to use it.
Dormant for Companies House means no significant accounting transactions in the year — not even a bank charge. Dormant for HMRC means not trading and not receiving income. A company can be dormant for one and not the other. Either way the confirmation statement is due annually and dormant accounts (form AA02) must be filed within nine months of the year end; miss them and penalties and strike-off follow exactly as for a trading company.
Groups often form the UK company early — to secure the name, sign a lease, or start a bank application — and trade months later. We file the dormancy notice with HMRC, keep the registered office, file the AA02 and CS01, and reactivate everything the month you start trading.
What’s included
- HMRC dormancy notification
- Dormant company accounts (AA02) filed annually
- Confirmation statement filed annually
- Registered office and service address
- Statutory registers maintained
- Reactivation: Corporation Tax, VAT and PAYE registrations when trading starts
How it works
What happens, in order
Assess
We confirm the company qualifies as dormant for Companies House and HMRC and notify HMRC.
Maintain
Annual accounts and confirmation statement filed; registered office kept.
Reactivate
When you are ready, we switch on tax registrations and bookkeeping — usually within a week.
When you need this
Who this is for
Companies formed ahead of a launch, name-protection companies, and subsidiaries whose plans have paused.
Common questions
Does a dormant company have to file accounts?
Can a dormant company have a bank account?
Do we still need a registered office?
What does it cost to keep a dormant company?
Related reading
Fees exclude VAT and third-party disbursements (Companies House fees, HMRC penalties, courier costs) which are passed through at cost. Identity and ownership checks apply to every engagement. Bank account opening is subject to the provider’s eligibility criteria.