Of interest to many London Registrars clients making use of such services of ours as the preparation and submission of the annual Confirmation Statement and the maintenance of statutory registers, will be the news that Companies House is ending its previous temporary voluntary strike off policy.

The registrar actually announced the change on 10Ā July, outlining that they would restart the process for companies that had applied for voluntary striking off in the autumn.

Whatā€™s changing?

Companies House introduced temporary easement measures in March 2020 to suspend voluntary strike-off action in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The executive agency subsequently reviewed the temporary arrangements each month, and after its July review, decided to lift them from 10Ā September. Since that date, it has resumed the process of dissolving companies that had applied for voluntary dissolution.

How will the resumed process work?

Since voluntary striking off action recommenced,Ā Companies House policy has been that if there have been no objections to a dissolution and the two-month period from the Gazette noticeā€™s publication has expired, the company will then shortly be struck off.

If a person with an interest in a given company has already registered an objection, but the time period for that objection is set to expire, that person must re-register the objection if it is still needed.

Applications for voluntary strike off since 10Ā July 2020 are not impacted by the temporary policy, as the easements for voluntary dissolution apply to strike-off applications registered prior to that date.

Meanwhile, the compulsory strike off process ā€“ by which Companies House strikes off companies it believes to no longer be in operation or carrying on business ā€“ is set to resume from 10Ā October.

Reach out to London Registrars about how we can serve your needs

With Companies House confirming that all companies that applied to be struck off prior to July 2020 will be struck off the register in a phased approach in the four weeks from 10Ā September, the change will bring important certainty for many businesses.

Remember that whatever your own organisationā€™s requirements may be in relation to such areas of expertise of ours as corporate governance, risk and compliance, London Registrars is ready and waiting to provide tailored advice and guidance.

Contact us via phone or email today, and we will be pleased to address your query and point you towards the solutions of ours that can help.

September 2020