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The Companies Act – Is Your Website / Email Legal?

May 5th, 2007 by Chris Pangburn

From the 1st January 2007, it has become a legal requirement for all registered companies to display certain details both on their website, and in the footers of emails. The change comes in the form of the rather longwinded “First Company Law Amendment Directive”. Prior to this amendment, companies already had to publish company details on letters and other documents, however now the requirements have been extended to websites and emails. Carry on reading to find out what your business should be doing to ensure it is meeting these laws that are now in force…

The recent amendments specifically state that company registration number and place of registration must be displayed on a company’s website and email correspondence. An email signature can easily be set up to contain this information (and can also be combined with other contact and possibly marketing messages). There was also some worry that the requirement to display the information would be site-wide, but you’ll be pleased to know that the details need only be displayed in one place on the website, possibly the ‘legal’ or ‘contact us’ page. Although these are Ecommerce legislations, it is essential for all companies to display this information online, regardless of whether they actually conduct any selling through their website.

There are also a range of other aspects that your website needs to display, such as:

- - Company name, registration number, trading name.
  - Geographic address (not a PO Box) and email address – this can also be the registered office.
  - VAT Number
  - Prices must be displayed clearly and must state whether they are inclusive or exclusive of VAT
  - Any trade memberships should also clearly be displayed.
  - Although not a legal requirement, a disclaimer should also be a high priority.

If you are in any doubt as to these requirements or have any questions then please feel free to contact us for further clarification (info@aerodesigns.co.uk).

Useful Material: The Companies Act 2006