System Status Update

The processing time for all company formations is subject to Companies House. For up to date information on the current turnaround times on our company formations please check this page regularly.

Update - 19-October 2009 at 15:26

Companies House are now operating near normal speed but there are some occasional technical issues that result in delays. Most older applications are now registered with a few exceptions. New companies are now registering in approximately 3 working hours. The volume of rejected applications has increased due to new rules regarding names being too similar to existing company names.

Update - 14-October 2009 at 11:46

Companies House are now rapidly clearing the backlog of companies. There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies being successfully formed over the last two days. We expect to see hundreds of companies processed in the next few hours which should reduce the formation time to several hours instead of days and weeks.

New companies submitted today-

Your company should be formed within several hours. There may still be slight delays as Companies House continues to make up lost ground, but in general delays are minimal in comparison to the last 14 days.

Companies submitted before today-

There are a few exceptions as Companies House clear previously ‘stuck’ companies, but in general most clients should soon receive their completed company emails. We are still working with Companies House to resolve outstanding matters but we are confident that we will soon have all outstanding formations processed.

Update - 13-October 2009 at 16:59

We are pleased to advise that Companies House are improving day by day. The latest update on Companies House website and direct to company formation agents is more positive. The problems that caused the current backlog of companies have now been resolved. They are now working to clear several thousand companies that are still to be processed from last week and we are seeing more companies formed every day.

Companies House have publicly acknowledged the delay in company formations and have issued a very brief apology on their website. If you need to provide evidence of delays to your clients please inform them of this link.

Companies House apology - http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk//pressDesk/apology.shtml

Update - 12-October 2009 at 10:11

Companies House were working on Saturday 10 October to try to reduce the backlog of company formations that are still outstanding. However, it would appear that they are still only processing a few hundred companies per day which is considerably below their usual performance of approximately 1000 companies per day. It is likely that we will continue to see delays this week.

How long will company formations take?

Good news for companies that are registered in Scotland. We have seen companies processed within 1 hour of submission. It would appear that the lower volume of formations processed through Edinburgh has not caused the same problems currently being experienced by Cardiff.

There is not such good news for Cardiff that forms all companies registered in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We are still waiting for companies submitted on 01 and 02 October to be formed. We are expecting these back today as Companies House continue with their efforts.

Update - 09-October 2009 at 14:04

Scottish company registrations are processing in approximately 24 hours as they are handled by Companies House Edinburgh. Companies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are processed by Companies House Cardiff and are currently subject to much longer delays. Please see update below.

Update - 09-October 2009 at 11:09

Companies House incorporation systems were not in operation during the afternoon of Thursday 8 October 2009. Unfortunately this has only added to the backlog of companies already delayed at Companies House. We have seen some companies formed again this morning that were submitted last week so we are hopeful that matters will soon be resolved. Simple Formations are still accepting new applications and will add them to the queue at Companies House.

Update - 08-October 2009 at 15:02

The latest advice from Companies House is that they are still processing some companies from last Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately their systems are not coping with the new Companies Act 2006 implementations and it is affecting all UK company formations. This is a nationwide problem and not unique to Simple Formations. They have assured us that they are working hard to fix outstanding issues but they still have a backlog of several thousand companies. Your patience during this time is appreciated whilst Companies House resolve their problems.

Please be assured that when your company is formed and Companies House communicates the successful application to our system you will be notified by email instantly. In the meantime we are supporting Companies House in their efforts to get companies formed as quickly as possible.

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Update - 07 October 2009 at 09:00

Companies House are processing very slowly at the moment which is in part due to technical issues and also the volume of pending applications in their system. As of 09.30am today very few companies have been successfully registered since 01 October 2009. Please note this is a UK wide problem and not specific to Simple Formations. As soon as you place an order with us it will be sent to the queue at Companies House for processing.

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Update - 06 October 2009 at 09:00

Companies House are processing very slowly at the moment which is in part due to technical issues and also the volume of pending applications in their system. As of 09.30am today very few companies have been successfully registered since 01 October 2009. Please note this is a UK wide problem and not specific to Simple Formations. As soon as you place an order with us it will be sent to the queue at Companies House for processing.

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Update - 05 October 2009 at 09:00

Companies House are now accepting company registrations under the new act but are experiencing technical issues which is causing further delays. There is also a large backlog in the system so it is difficult to assess when companies will be formed. Applications are treated on a first come first served basis so by applying through our website your company will be added to the queue.

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Why are formations delayed?

Companies House is currently experiencing delays in forming companies due to the implementation of the Companies Act 2006.

From 30 September to 4 October 09 no companies were formed whilst Companies House updated their systems and introduced new systems. On 5 October they began to process companies under the new act but only managed to form a few hundred companies.

Unfortunately the new systems are currently not performing as intended. This has led to severe delays at Companies House and a backlog of several thousand companies. This issue is ongoing but it is hoped that Companies House will soon reduce the backlog and resume a normal 2-3 hour service.

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