Legal structures for businesses - an overview
Setting up specific types of limited company
Instead of setting up a 'standard' type of public or private company, you could consider setting up a:
- Community Interest Company
- Right-to-manage company
These types of company are subject to company law in the same way as standard public or private companies - see starting a private company and starting a public limited company.
However, they must meet additional criteria in order to qualify as the company type concerned.
Community Interest Company (CIC)
A CIC is a type of limited company designed for people who want to run a business for the benefit of the community - ie not purely for the benefit of the company's members and shareholders.
A CIC may be a public or private company limited by:
- share capital
- guarantee with or without share capital
A company cannot become a CIC if it is:
- a charity
- intends to be a political party, a political campaigning organisation, or a subsidiary of either
If you intend to set up a CIC, you must register it with Companies House.
CICs are often seen as a type of social enterprise and may take the form of:
- leisure centres
- housing associations
- worker-owned co-operatives
- community development trusts
See choose the right structure for your social enterprise.
Right-to-manage (RTM) company
A RTM company is run by leaseholders who have taken on the landlord's management functions, eg repairs and maintenance of the premises.
For a company to be a RTM company in relation to those premises:
- it must be a private company limited by guarantee
- its articles of association must state that its object, or one of its objects, is gaining the right to manage those premises
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