United Kingdom

Operating a business

Different types of companies	Number of partners/shareholders	Maximum and/or minimum capital	Liabilities	Registration fees
Private Limited Company (Ltd)	Minimum 2 partners, except for single-member Private limited Company. Maximum 50 partners.	No minimum. In practice, the minimum subscribed is GBP 100. Totality of the capital must be released.	Liability is limited to the amount contributed.	About GBP1,000.
Public Limited Company (Plc)	Minimum 2.	Minimum GBP 50,000 totally subscribed, obligation to release 25% at the constitution.	Liability is limited to the amount contributed.	About GBP1,000.
Partnership	No minimum.	No minimum capital.	Partners' liability is joint and indefinite	About GBP1,000.
Limited Partnership	No minimum.	No minimum capital.	Liability is limited.	About GBP1,000.
Unlimited Company	No minimum.	No minimum capital.	Partners' liability is joint and several	About GBP1.000.

Business setup procedures: Status consist of a "Memorandum of Association" and "Articles of Association". Status and capital must be registered with the "Companies Registration Office" where the company is located, which approves the company's registered name and delivers a certificate of compliance. The Companies Registration Office delivers a registration number and a certificate of registration. Once these documents are provided, the company is legally constituted and can start its activity. These procedures take about 6 weeks. As for branches, procedures are shorter since they are limited to an activity declaration with the Register of companies, within one month after the activity starts.
The competent organization: Companies House

Legal weekly duration: 48 hours
Retirement age: 60 for women and 65 for men.
Working contracts: Legal clauses regulate employment contracts and to a lesser degree collective agreements and individual negotiations.

Minimum wage: 1 105 euros
Average wage: GBP457 a week (2007)
Social contributions: Social security contributions paid by employers: 12.8%
Social security contributions paid by employees: 11%

Bargaining power: The following confederations can be listed : TUC ( TRADE UNION CONGRESS), STUC ( THE SCOTTISH TRADE UNION CONGRESS) and Wales TUC.
Unions: TUC
STUC
Wales TUC
Unionization rate: 27.64 %.
Labor regulation bodies: Department for Work and Pensions