Legal Obligations under the Companies Act

Posted: June 2008

Since the start of 2007 there have been a number of amendments to the Companies Act. If you are a limited company (these changes do not apply to sole traders or partnerships) you will need to comply with the new amendments. These changes included the legal requirement for all business e-mails and websites to include:

• Company Registration Number
• Place of registration
• Registered company address

The easiest way of doing this is by way of an e-mail signature, which is then automatically added to all your outgoing e-mail. We have a simple guide on our website for adding signatures to Outlook Express here, as well as Outlook 2003 here.

It is also a good idea to think about a simple disclaimer on the bottom of your e-mail – perhaps something like this, which many companies are now doing:

“This email and its attachments may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of "Your Company LTD"
If you are not the intended recipient of this email and its attachments, you must take no action based upon them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error.”

In addition, if you have a website you will need to include this information on the site. You need to make sure that the information is clear, and in legible characters.

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If you have any questions about how to add this information to your e-mails or websites, then please don’t hesitate to give us a ring on 0845 899009 or drop us an e-mail – we would be only too happy to help.

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