Start something
Start a company in
Form a limited company: who it needs, its office, its rules, the application — and everything that follows, in order.
Herm has no government of its own: it is owned and administered by the States of Guernsey, which have leased the whole island to one tenant company since 2008 — so Guernsey’s laws, taxes and registries apply there.
Who it needs, its office, the application, its fees and its yearly validation are checked. Its tax registration, licensing and employing are still being researched.
A Guernsey company is formed through the Guernsey Registry; unless one of its directors lives in Guernsey, a licensed corporate services provider acts as its resident agent.
- 2 Before you apply · 29%
- 1 Applying · 14%
- 2 Straight after · 29%
- 2 Every year, and every change · 29%
- 6 You · 86%
- 1 You, with someone · 14%
- Incorporate it through the Registry£100
- The annual validation£260
What changes if…
Choose a director — a secretary is optionalYou
A Guernsey company needs at least one member and at least one director, and may, but need not, have a secretary. Every director must first be registered with the Guernsey Registry, and the company needs a resident agent: a Guernsey-resident director of the company, or a licensed corporate services provider.
Why now: The resident agent decides whether you need a provider at all.
A registered office in GuernseyYou
The company needs a registered office in Guernsey, where communications and notices can reach it, where its name is displayed and where its register of members is kept.
Incorporate it through the RegistryYou, with someonea corporate services provider and the Guernsey Registry£100 within 24 hours — or £500 in two hours, £1,000 in fifteen minutes (with restrictions); £25 to reserve a nameWithin 24 hours, on the standard service
A Guernsey company is formed through a corporate services provider licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, which applies to the Registry for you. A name can be reserved first, for three months.
The annual validationYouthe Guernsey Registry£260 a year, or £525 if a provider administers it
Every year the company validates its details with the Registry. A local trading company not administered by a provider pays £260; one administered by a corporate services provider pays £525. Civil penalties apply when it is late.
Tell the Registry about changesYouthe Guernsey RegistryWithin 14 days of the change
A change of director or resident agent is notified on the Registry’s online system within 14 days — a change of resident agent with proof of the appointment, such as a directors’ minute.
Keep going
- Sole trader or company?What each costs you in tax, what each costs to run, and the one question that usually decides it: will you keep money in the business?Open
- Work for yourselfTrade as yourself, without a company: what you register, and what you are exempt from.Open
- Choose a registered officeThe official address every company must have: where it can be, whose permission it needs, and where it must be shown.Open
- All of it, in orderPlan my start draws every journey you need, for your place, with your costs.Plan my start
Words in this journey:Company secretaryDirectorMemberRegistered officeResident agentCorporate services providerData controllerSole traderLimited company