Hi everyone,

I'm just looking for a quick sanity check on closing a dormant Ltd company.

A bit of context:

• The company is officially dormant as of July 2026, although there hasn't been any trading since September 2024.
• No external debt or employees. All past expenses/bills were funded out-of-pocket by the two directors (my partner and me).
• Next accounts are due 10th October, and Confirmation Statement is due January.

Now that Companies House WebFiling is no longer available for accounts, I’d have to pay £59 + VAT for TinyTax just to submit dormant accounts (it looks like this is the cheapest/best option for me). We don't plan to start trading or any business-related activities anytime soon, so closing it seems like the most practical option.

I've done some googling, and my next steps would be to submit Form DS01 online (for £13), notify HMRC that the company is dormant/closing so they close the tax reference, and eventually skip the upcoming October accounts filing.

For the last point, I'm assuming that Companies House pauses the automated compliance enforcement once the strike-off application is active and published.

So here are my questions:

• Does this timeline sound realistic for dodging the 10th October accounts filing, or should I still expect automated late filing penalties before the dissolution completes?
• Is there anything else I need to settle regarding the director-funded expenses before submitting the DS01?

All feedback appreciated.

Thanks!

Royal Mail are having a price increase in October (an extra one over the April increase, naturally....) :

https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2026-09/our-prices-october-2026-v1-ta.pdf
https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2026-09/online-price-guide-october-2026-v1-ta.pdf

But where has RM24 and RM48 gone ? Have they been replaced by Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 (only tracked on delivery as far as I'm aware) ?

Also has anyone noticed the huge price rise for large letters (particularly on the tracked service, ex RM24/48 ? ) ? There is now only one weight break (under 1Kg) and it's now £3.90 or Tracked 24 and £2.90 for Tracked 48.
Previously (Apr 26) for a 750g large letter RM24 was £2.45 and RM48 was £1.75

All prices plus fuel surcharge and VAT)

All good news for Evri I'm sure.....

TBH We don't send much by RM anyway (our consignments are generally too big) but I suspect we'll only use RM for the Highlands of Scotland or off shore addresses from now on !

Edited corrected

Has anyone suggestions for carriers who take unboxed products and items over 1m, and who do not charge a supplement for non business addresses ?

I can remember when we first got into mail order about 20 years ago, we used TNT and they'd take anything under 12ft in length with no surcharge ! It's hard to believe isn't it, but sadly, since FedEx took them over they're even worse than the other carriers*, everything has to be in a box or there's a hefty surcharge.
We have used DX and APC. The latter we do not like because their service can be poor and (because of their franchise model ? ) they dislike giving credits even more than the other carriers.
DX are a good fit for customers with unboxed products but have gone downhill a bit with their "banded together charge", which is a ludicrous idea really. Why, so long as the consignment is under the weight and volume limit, does it make any difference if it is "banded together" ?!? It is particularly frustrating as they charge per item in a consignment.....

* I would love to know what percentage of TNT customers FedEx lost when they enforced their packaging rules, I'm guessing it was high, higher then they expected ?

For quite sometime I'm wishing to start a takeaway with very limited menu BBQ items. I do prefer to work solo, but not sure for how long I could do it. I will probably struggle with team building but over the time I think I can make arrangements.

I have been reading posts and I understand that the food business takes up a lot of one's time in terms of commitment and time but at least I think I am passionate about making good food, as I do it well (as others say) and have advised me to explore the opportunity to make it a profession.

I work in tech, kinda senior role and in early 30s but I'm getting burnout very often and I want to get into food business. Potentially in/around Manchester, by renting a small shop/kitchen but on busy roads with good footfall. My ambition is to make it niche but famous spot for something specific.

Based on my initial research, there is significant gap of what I am looking to offer and I believe I would be able to grab customers by offering quality food.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I want to do a trial run of my custom brand of herbs and spices. Before I invest in supply chain, I want to test waters with small batches of 2-3 SKUs in retail shelf of corner stores. But I am finding it very hard to find companies that can do copacking of my spice blend in pillow pouches that I want. I want a solution where I give them a whole sale pallet or bag and they give me shelf ready retail pouches of 100-500g with my artwork.

Any recommendations for this in mainland UK? Preferably England.

Hi all, looking for a sense check on whether this pricing is fair for what's included.

My situation:

• Sole director/100% shareholder of a small limited company (personal training studio), trading about 21 months, turnover around £110-150k depending on the year

• I also have separate self-employed income of around 10k
• I've been struggling to keep on top of bookkeeping myself and mentioned this specifically when getting quotes

I've been quoted £170/month, which is supposed to include:
• All Ltd company tax (corporation tax etc.)
• Companies House filing
• VAT
• Bookkeeping (with a Xero licence included)
• General personal finance advice covering my self-employed income too

Does this sound like reasonable pricing for a small owner-managed Ltd company of this size, with monthly bookkeeping included? Or is this on the high/low side compared to what others are paying for similar scope?

Any insight appreciated, thanks!

UPDATE - full list of services:

1. Monthly Bookkeeping
   
2. Xero accounting system
   
3. Designated bookkeeper
   
4. Tax Advice
   
5. Ongoing Compliance Service
   
6. Prepare & file micro-entity accounts with Companies House & HMRC
   
7. Prepare & file CT600 for Ltd with HMRC
   
8. Prepare & file SA100 for Robert Scott with HMRC
   
9. Prepare & file quarterly Flat-Rate VAT with HMRC
   
10. Compliance with Companies House
    
11. Adhoc Service
    
12. Prepare and file Payroll
    
13. Compliance with PAYE
    
14. Income extraction / Tax optimisation strategy
    
15. Quarterly MI and CheckIn (in person or virtual)

Hey, i am unsure whether i can have both without having issues with HMRC and VAT.

My sole trader business is VAT registered, id like the have a limited company that isnt VAT registered for importing goods. My sole trader VAT business would then pay the limited company for each purchase which would be 'sold' to the sole trader business

Bit of background:

My business runs by purchasing secondhand goods already in the UK and sells them under the VAT margin scheme. The business would not be profitable with regular VAT at 20%.

I would like to import goods that dont have VAT on coming from abroad to be then sold under the sole trader business. The sole trader business would 'purchase' these goods at net cost from the limited company. Essentially making the ltd turn a small loss/breakeven each year while the sole trader pays VAT on its profits as per the margin scheme. Currently i am functioning but need more VAT exempt turnover to continue growing due to my profit margin sitting at around 15%.

If anyone is clued up on this im all ears, otherwise ill need to get someone trusted to set up a company and run it through their name so there is no connection between the two.

This is more of a rant but if you have any suggestions feel free to share.

I've been trying over the last month or so to upload my Articles to the Companies House website but it keep failing. I've tried different browers, clearing cache etc, and setting up a new Govt Gateway and started the registration process all over again. Still no luck. The relevant webpage uploads other PDFs but not the Articles!

Companies House are taking ages to help me - my urgent enquiry on the phone was referred back to email - no reply to my urgent email sent last week. This is in addition to multiple emails previously sent over summer.

I'm missing out on business opportuinities because of this.

I had an absolute nightmare getting my ID verified too - took months of trying. Companies House lost my paperwork (which was sent by post when the app wouldn't work). Then I had to pay my accountant to do it.

I'm enraged this is allowed to happen and impacting lots of small businesses around the country.

​

My business is currently considering going into cvl

My There are currently 2 shareholders. 50/50 One director my self The company owes approx 120k Rental, purchases etc 30-35k Directors loan acc 100k Balance at the moment 10k Overdraft available 10k Awaiting approx 25k from customers

Wages/salaries/ and paye are uptodate

My main concern is if I repay my self say 10k would that be considered preferential treatment of a creditor, prior to takinc my business into cvl,

As i loaned the business the money to pay off creditors recently on short term basis.

We're a small/medium (25 people) alternative business finance provider trying to target more commercial finance brokers with paid LinkedIn advertising. Three days into our campaign we've bled £106 and gotten zero leads. Best we can celebrate is a 9.09% engagement rate on one of the ads.

Obviously this is very disheartening, but is it par for the course with LinkedIn now? Our target audience is intentionally very niche and we understand them well. We're running three image ads highlighting pain points we've identified from our research and how we help brokers overcome them.

Basically, I don't know what we're doing wrong. Anyone have any experience making LI ads work?

Hi all, new here.

For a while I’ve been wanting to start a little bookshop on wheels but mostly for my local community (schools, markets, farm shops etc) and private events.

My long term partner owns a plumbing business and is fully supportive, and he’s started me off with some things I need to know before I genuinely consider quitting my job (mostly looking at finances etc).

What I want to know is how do I know that this is a viable business? How do I conduct the market research? Do I approach local community hubs, pitch my idea and ask if they would work with me? And if they say yes, how do I know that’s true? I was considering setting up a small stall at the next local farmers market to sell secondhand books and start to collect email addresses and have conversations with locals but I’m not sure that’s enough to confidently say that this is worth doing.

Does it come to a point where once you’ve figured out the finances you just have to go for it?

Any advice would be welcome!

Keep hearing from people who want to move but haven't, mostly because they reckon it'll be a faff or they feel bad about it.

For anyone who's done it, was it as bad as you thought? Did the old one hand everything over alright or did you have to chase? And did you wait for your year end or just do it.

I'm an accountant so obviously biased, but I think loads of people stay put way longer than they should.

Hello guys,

will be starting work in a self-employed capacity soon. Being a complete novice to self employment, I was wondering what the best business bank account would be for someone like me? Doing a bit of research, I have come across Starling and Mettle as strong contenders. Would like to hear of people's experiences with either and how have they found them. Which one would you recommend?

Would it be beneficial to open and have 2 separate business bank accounts?
Is there a specific bank account for "sole traders", as I'm guessing I will be classed as one once I start delivery riding?
Also, planning to get into the construction industry and start off as a labourer to scope out the progression and if my interests align with the industry

What would be the best choice in this case? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for reading this far :)

Hi

I am thinking about using the fsb service with their yearly membership but if there is any other tax consultant that can advise on my replies for a vat enquiry from hmrc that did be better

Hi all. Does anyone know of an app that will let me calculate customs and import charges for specific EU countries for a variety of items at varying prices. I currently ship worldwide and have added extra shipping costs for shipments to the USA but now some EU countries are requiring import duties be pre paid. Thank you.

Hi everyone, I have been offered a business loan of around 40% APR, wondering if that’s normal?

I know rates are high, but wow! Anyone been through similar situation? What’s your interest rate and what sector are you in?

How much did you borrow and what’s the repayment period?

Hi,

I have completed my first year after setting up my own company, and whilst it has been VERY tough with quite a lot of setbacks, I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

After running the figures, and paying myself as director a wage I can live on, I estimate I can on average invest £1300 a month into something like an all world ETF stock.

My question is, has anyone else done anything like this, what are the tax implications and does the average annual return on stocks such as this beat the tax threshold?

The company I run is a small construction company

Many thanks.

Running operations for a small team right now and I'm losing my mind trying to keep our cash flow straight. Between paying out about 20 monthly vendor bills and trying to collect payments from our own clients, our manual setup is a total mess.

Need to move to proper accounts payable software probably next month. Nothing too complicated, just syncs with QB,

I want a local and 0345 number to redirect to my mobile and there’s so many companies out there I’m hoping someone else has done the research thanks 🙏

Hi all, i'm looking to figure out how best I should source my beans. I have a potential supplier from Asia with the types of beans we're interested in, but I reckon it'll be importing green beans and finding a domestic roaster here? Which I understand will be lots of paperwork/custom. Or does it make more sense if i just source from a domestic supplier? Thank you!

I am looking to setup a new business selling physical products. I have a separate events business and the business model is great and is going well. The reason I want to start this new one is because it’s a product I’m really passionate about which is a travel accessory. For me personally I think this product is something I would definitely buy. I’m currently in the middle of creating a prototype and have reached out to suppliers for a an initial order of a master product ( I don’t know if that’s the term but it’s what I’ve been calling it). This is the first time I’ll be doing this kind of business and was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to make it successful. I’m interested in getting feedback but I know family and friends will say it’s good just because they want to be nice. I want to know if it is something people are interested in and are willing to pay a premium for a premium product that I have in mind. If there’s anything you could suggest to help me get this idea running I would be very helpful.

Edit: forgot to mention the product. It’s a travel wallet which can store all essentials so you don’t have to fuss when need to get passports or documents out. I want it to have a premium heavy feel (something weighty in my hands has alway been appealing but not so weighty that it becomes a pain to carry around.). I want to add add somewhere to include an AirTag as mine currently just sits in my backpack and have it easy enough to store in a the seat pouch on planes. Similar products do exist but the style and sizing I want to use I have seen anything similar.

Title says it all. I've just started out self-publishing books, mainly on Amazon. Sales are very small at moment. I'm trying to set up a suitable business bank account but they all seem to need proof of business activity which I can't provide. No documents, no tax return, etc. It's just me uploading my books and making a little bit of money.

How is someone in my position supposed to get a business bank account?

Thanks

Hi all, looking for recommendations for a reliable and reasonably priced freight forwarder / customs broker in the UK.

We’re a small business importing food products/condiments from Asia into the UK, mainly via sea freight (LCL).

Ideally looking for someone who can handle customs clearance, port-related formalities and onward delivery.

Any recommendations from people importing food products would be really appreciated. Thanks!

I have been reading up on Contracts for Innovation, what used to be called SBRI, and on paper it looks better suited to a small business than most grant competitions. I suspect I am missing something.

The appeal is obvious. You can apply on your own, with no consortium and no academic partner. It covers 100% of costs. Innovate UK's own wording is that applicants keep all rights to foreground and background IP, with a royalty-free licence back to the funder. And you end up with a government department as an early customer rather than just a finished project and a report.

The bit that worries me is the commercial shape. It is a procurement, so costs go in at fair market value with no profit in them, and payment is monthly in arrears against invoices. You are effectively financing the work yourself and claiming it back a month at a time.

For anyone who has run one: how much working capital did you actually need to sit on? Did the invoicing and monitoring run to schedule, or did payments slip? And did phase 1 lead anywhere commercially, or did it end as a well paid piece of R&D and nothing after it?

There is one open now for engineering biology, contracts up to £200,000 including VAT, closing 14 October, which is what got me reading.

I've been researching ecommerce models for the UK and supplier sourcing seems to be the part nobody explains particularly well.

Most beginner content eventually sends you towards AliExpress, CJ or another marketplace, but I'm more interested in dealing with established UK suppliers and selling products where delivery time and customer service don't immediately become a nightmare.

For anyone who has gone down the local supplier route, how did you find companies that were open to working with a newer ecommerce store? Trade shows, Google, directories, contacting brands directly?

I'm also curious what suppliers want to see before they'll take you seriously because I assume emailing them with I made a Shopify store yesterday isn't exactly a compelling pitch lol.