Start With the Organisation You Need

Explain what you are trying to establish, why it is needed, what it should achieve and how you expect it to operate. You do not need to translate those facts into technical legal categories before making an enquiry.

Explain the International Position

Tell us where the organisation, activities, people and existing arrangements are connected. Location, residence and international involvement are relevant facts, but none automatically dictates the establishment route.

Establish the Appropriate Route

Coddan can consider the organisational picture, identify the appropriate establishment route and define what work is required before any agreed formation, registration or implementation stage proceeds.

Tell Us What You Are Proposing

A preferred jurisdiction, structure or registration route can form part of the professional picture. Coddan can consider it against the organisation and its circumstances rather than requiring you to abandon it or begin again.

Tell Us the Organisation You Need

Explain the organisation, its intended result and the practical facts you already know. You do not have to select the jurisdiction, legal structure or governance framework before Coddan can consider the appropriate route.

Start in the Way That Suits You

You can begin through an appropriate online enquiry or order route, by document, by telephone, by video or, where appropriate, in person. The way you start does not determine the professional route.

Purpose and Activities

Explain what the organisation will do, who it is intended to serve and what activities it expects to undertake.

Existing Overseas Arrangements

Identify whether an overseas company, association, charity, project or other arrangement already exists and how it connects with the proposed UK organisation.

Geographical Position

Consider where activities, operations, people and existing arrangements are located without assuming that geography alone determines the establishment jurisdiction.

Intended Result

Identify what the organisation needs to be able to do once established. This keeps later structure and governance decisions connected to the actual objective.

Establish the Appropriate Place

Countries connected with the organisation and its activities form part of the assessment. If an existing overseas company is seeking a UK presence, the route may instead involve a UK establishment rather than incorporation of a new UK company.

Clarify Who Needs to Be Involved

Explain who is expected to participate, what each person or organisation is intended to do and how the relationships are expected to work. Formal capacities should be established from the chosen structure and governance arrangements rather than assumed from titles alone.

Company Limited by Guarantee

A CLG may be appropriate for a purpose-led organisation that requires a corporate structure without share capital. Its members, guarantors, directors and constitutional arrangements need to be considered as part of the establishment.

Charitable Structure

If charitable status is sought, the charity-registration question is separate from company incorporation. The relevant charity regulator determines whether the proposed organisation meets the applicable requirements.

CIO or CIC

A CIO or CIC may be relevant in different circumstances. They should not be treated as interchangeable with a CLG simply because the founder is overseas or the organisation is described as non-profit.

Governance Framework

The governance arrangements should reflect the organisation, its people and the way it is intended to operate. Coddan can support preparation within an agreed scope, while responsible individuals retain their own duties.

Review the Organisational Picture

Confirm that the stated objective, geographical position, people and existing arrangements are understood.

Determine the Route

Establish the appropriate jurisdiction, structure, governance and creation or registration route within the agreed professional scope.

Confirm the Agreed Route

You confirm the factual basis, decisions and scope before Coddan proceeds with the agreed establishment work.

Move Into Creation or Registration

Once the route and required information are sufficiently established, the agreed formation or registration stage can proceed.

Applicable Companies House Process

Where a UK company is being created or a relevant role is being registered, the applicable Companies House route and current requirements must be followed.

Identity Verification Where Required

If identity verification applies to an individual, that person must complete the required process and use their Companies House personal code where applicable. Coddan support does not transfer that responsibility.

ACSP Support

Where an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) route is applicable, Coddan can provide the relevant authorised Companies House support within the agreed scope. Coddan also operates as a Trust and Corporate Service Provider (TCSP) where applicable compliance and corporate-service safeguards form part of the agreed work.

Existing Overseas Company

If the organisation already exists overseas, a UK establishment route is separate from incorporating a new UK company. The applicable filing and identity requirements depend on the actual route.

Address Infrastructure

Consider registered-office, service-address or SAIL arrangements where the relevant organisation and statutory requirements call for them.

Secretarial Administration

Where required, Coddan can provide agreed company secretarial and corporate administration support after establishment without assuming that every organisation needs an annual package or company secretary appointment.

Digital Implementation

Where the required organisational function can appropriately be implemented digitally, relevant corporate and governance materials can be prepared and organised in that form within scope.

Physical Materials Where Appropriate

Where a genuine organisational function is better served by physical materials, appropriate corporate or governance materials can be provided within the agreed implementation scope.

Identify the Document

Tell Coddan what document or organisational evidence needs to be used and why it is required.

Identify the Destination

The country, receiving authority or institution and intended use may determine whether additional documentary treatment is required.

Establish What Is Required

Coddan can help establish the appropriate administrative route within scope rather than automatically adding certification or legalisation.

Establish the Appropriate Route

We work from the organisation, purpose, circumstances, people and intended destination and distinguish a new UK organisation from an existing overseas organisation seeking a UK presence.

Prepare and Coordinate the Agreed Work

We prepare agreed formation or establishment documentation, review information for consistency and coordinate relevant registration or filing steps within scope.

Connect the UK and International Picture

Where people or existing organisations are in different countries, we coordinate relevant UK and international administrative information within the scope agreed with you.

Keep Responsibilities Clear

You provide accurate information and complete actions that legally belong to you. Directors, trustees, members, guarantors and other responsible people retain the duties attached to their roles.

What You Provide and Approve

Accurate organisational facts, personal information, relevant documents, decisions about the proposed structure and approvals needed to proceed.

The Result

Depending on scope, the result may be a coherent establishment route, completed creation or registration, organised supporting documents and a defined plan for post-establishment administration.

Remaining Customer Action

You remain responsible for statutory approvals, personal identity verification where required, accurate information and other actions that cannot lawfully be delegated to Coddan.

Instruction and Authority

The professional intermediary provides the agreed instructions, authority, factual information and client approvals required for the work.

Coddan Performs the Agreed Work

Coddan reviews, prepares and coordinates the agreed corporate-service work using its own systems and credentials and within the agreed scope.

Verification and Statutory Boundaries

Coddan does not lend its ACSP or presenter credentials to third parties, and an individual's identity-verification responsibility is not transferred by a professional instruction.

Overseas Resident CLG Formation

For founders based outside the UK who have established that a UK CLG is the appropriate structure and need focused formation support in that context.

Non-Charitable CLG Formation

For a UK CLG where charitable status is not being sought and the organisation requires a focused route for non-charitable formation.

Secretarial Support After Establishment

Once a CLG exists, individual corporate tasks or continuing secretarial support can be agreed separately. An establishment instruction does not automatically create an annual secretarial relationship.

Establishment Route Determination

For organisations that need the professional route established before deciding who will carry out later stages.

Outcome: a coherent establishment route. Formation, registration and later implementation are not included unless separately agreed.

Establishment and Registration

For organisations that want Coddan to establish the route and then carry the organisation through creation or registration.

Outcome: legal or institutional creation or registration within the agreed scope.

Complete Organisation Establishment

For organisations that want the establishment process carried through creation and into appropriate organisational implementation.

Outcome: creation or registration followed by implementation based on the organisation's genuine operational needs.

Annual Compliance

A CLG may require continuing support with confirmation statements, accounts-related administration or other recurring statutory work, subject to its actual obligations.

Corporate Records

Individual tasks can include agreed corporate records, resolutions, governance documents, event-driven filings or other company-secretarial administration.

Address and Mail Administration

Where required, registered-office, service-address or SAIL arrangements can be considered separately according to the organisation's needs.

Do I need to know which country or jurisdiction to use?

No. You can explain what you are trying to establish, where it is expected to operate and the circumstances you already know. If you already have a jurisdiction in mind, Coddan can take that preference into account.

What if I already know the structure I want?

Tell us. A preferred structure is useful information and may be appropriate, but it should still be considered against the organisation, its circumstances and the people involved.

Does operating in several countries automatically require a complicated structure?

No. International circumstances may be relevant, but complexity should arise only where the organisation genuinely requires it.

Can Coddan help determine governance arrangements?

Yes, where governance forms part of the agreed professional scope. The framework should follow from the organisation, its structure, people and circumstances.

Is formation or registration the end of the establishment process?

Not necessarily. The organisation may then need to be put into appropriate working order. Those requirements should be identified from the organisation's actual circumstances rather than treated as standard formation extras.

Will an international establishment automatically need an apostille or legalisation?

No. Further documentary treatment depends on the particular document, where it will be used and what the receiving authority requires.

Can I ask Coddan only to determine the establishment route?

Yes. Route determination can remain a defined professional service without automatically instructing Coddan to carry out formation, registration or subsequent implementation.

Can an overseas professional adviser instruct Coddan?

Yes, where the proposed work falls within an agreed corporate-service scope. The adviser or client must provide the necessary authority, information and approvals, while Coddan performs the agreed work using its own systems and credentials.