Incorporate the company

If you're trading as a limited company, you register it with Companies House before you do anything else — the name, registered office, directors and shareholders. Most venues do this online in under an hour. If you're trading as a sole trader or partnership instead you don't incorporate, but you still need to register with HMRC for Self Assessment.

Almost everything else — the bank account, the lease, the premises licence application, the food registration, insurance — needs the exact legal entity name and company number to match. Getting the company set up first avoids re-doing paperwork later, and a limited company gives you personal liability protection that a sole trader doesn't have.

Watch out for

• Registering the company name before checking it doesn't clash with your intended trading name, domain, or an existing trade mark — Companies House only checks for exact duplicates, not similarity.
• Using a home address as the registered office without realising it becomes publicly searchable — use a registered office service if you want privacy.
• Naming a shareholder or director informally, without checking everyone agrees the split — this is expensive to unwind later.

Sources

• GOV.UK — Set up a limited company checked 2026-09-02

See also

• Register for Corporation Tax and PAYE
• Open a business bank account
• VAT registration