Community Interest Companies (CICs) first came into being in 2005 as a legal structure for social enterprises. A way of doing business that fulfils a social good and ensures that any profits go back into the community. Although easy to register up till now they have had to be processed by paper, something of anomaly in this day of computer access. Now CICs can now be registered online, a long awaited development. This will
- significantly reduce incorporation times,
- offer online convenience; and
- be available 24-hours a day.
It will also allow Companies House to process and place community interest companies on the public record far more efficiently than paper documents. The online process will provide benefits such as security, speed and environmental savings. For those wanting to set up a CIC it will:
- Reduce incorporation costs for prospective CICs to £27
- Allow payment by card or PayPal; and
- Confirm incorporation – within 2 working days, in the majority of cases.
There are over 15,000 CICs registered at Companies House and increasing by well over 2,500 a year this is a welcome development, as CICs are an excellent way to set up a social enterprise. If you would like to know more about social enterprise or community interest companies then contact us at 01922 619840.
Companies House has created a webinar to give an overview of the system at .
