Business Start-Ups
Business Start-Up Solicitors
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Rose & Rose
Helping You Build the Foundations for Your New Business
Starting a new business is part exciting, part overwhelming, but having the right foundations in place from the start is crucial. You have an idea, maybe a customer base already in place, and a thousand decisions to make before you can properly start trading. Some of those decisions will follow you for years, particularly the legal ones.
Our business start-up solicitors at Rose & Rose work with founders and entrepreneurs across Kingston, Surrey, and the wider London area to establish the right legal foundations. We can help you choose the right business structure, get the paperwork in order, understand your legal and regulatory obligations, and avoid the common pitfalls that catch out new business owners.
Choosing The Right Business Structure
How you choose to set up your business structure affects your tax position, your personal liability, how you bring in investment, and how easily you can sell the business later. Our business law team can help you understand each of the options available to you, which include:
- Sole trader. The simplest route, where you and the business are legally the same. There is no separation between your personal assets and the debts of the business.
- Partnership. Two or more people running a business together. Partners are personally liable for the business’s debts, including those run up by their fellow partners.
- Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). Often used by professional services firms. Members have the flexibility of a partnership with the limited liability of a company.
- Limited company. A separate legal entity. Shareholders’ liability is limited to the value of their shares, and there are clearer routes for investment and sale.
We can review your business plans and recommend a structure that suits your goals. Where tax is a key driver, our solicitors can work alongside your accountant and tax advisors, so the advice joins up and your interests are protected.
Talk to our Business Law Solicitors Today
Setting Up Your Company
Once you have decided on the right business structure, we will handle the legal aspects of getting you up and running. For limited companies, this includes:
- Incorporating the company at Companies House
- Drafting the articles of association
- Issuing shares and recording shareholdings in the statutory registers
- Preparing initial board minutes
- Registering the people with significant control (PSC)
- Advising on directors’ duties under the Companies Act 2006
For partnerships and LLPs, we can draft the partnership agreement or LLP members’ agreement, which sets out how the business will be run, how profits are shared, and what happens when someone leaves.
Partner and Shareholder Agreements
If you are starting a new business with someone else, a shareholders’ or partnership agreement is one of the most important documents you will sign. It sets out your responsibilities, roles, and how much of the business each of you owns. It also explains what happens if one of you wants to leave. Shareholders’ and partnership agreements also outline how disputes will be resolved, a key and very important part of these documents.
We have seen disputes escalate and even businesses fall apart, when these documents are not set up correctly. Spending time now, using the right expertise from the onset, saves trouble later. Find out more about how our team can help with shareholders’ agreements.
Other Start-Up Considerations
Once you have your business structure set up and your documents in place, there are a few other areas worth thinking about. Our team can help you understand the next steps, providing advice and guidance on wider matters, including:
- Intellectual property. Who owns the brand, the website code, the designs and any trade marks.
- Data protection. Registering with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and meeting your obligations under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, including updates under DUAA marketing rules.
- Commercial premises. Whether you need a commercial lease or licence, and what the terms commit you to. We can also assist with the sale and purchase of commercial property.
- Having written contracts and core HR documents in place before you start hiring staff. We can also assist employers with employment tribunal matters.
Arrange a Consultation with Our Business Start-Up Team
Please contact us on 0208 974 7490 or info@roselegal.co.uk to discuss the best way forward for you, and we will provide you with further and specific advice tailored to your circumstances. Our experienced business law team are here to help you. We will work with you to ensure the best possible outcome.
Meet the team
Meet the team working for you. Click the photo to view that team members profile or use the button to send them an email.
Tom Burton Wills
Isaac Moore
Nick Roots
Mark Eaton
Robert Sadler
Christine Salama
Lein Jabeiti
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- Customer contracts and terms of trade
- Supplier and contractor agreements
- Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
- Employment contracts and consultancy agreements
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Business Dispute Resolution
Disputes are an unfortunate but common occurrence of running a business. At Rose & Rose, our dispute resolution team has extensive experience in advising businesses in a wide range of commercial disputes, including:
- Partnership and shareholder disputes.
- Director disputes.
- Contract disputes.
- Commercial property disputes.
Our lawyers and litigators are highly regarded and act for businesses of all sizes facing issues. We can support clients in both High and County Courts and, where appropriate, can advise on alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Wider Legal Considerations – Your Personal Affairs Matter Too
A new venture often means rethinking your personal legal position as well. Owning shares in a company or having an interest in a partnership changes how your estate will pass under your Will. It also means that if you were to lose capacity due to illness or an accident, someone would need the legal authority to keep the business running, access bank accounts, and make decisions on your behalf.
Our Wills & Probate team can advise on making a Will or putting a Lasting Power of Attorney in place alongside the business work, so the protection joins up.
If you are married, getting married, or going through a divorce, our Family Law and Divorce team can also advise on setting up a prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement or on how business assets, investments, and pensions might be treated in a divorce.
Wills
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Pre/ Post Nuptial Agreements
Family & Divorce Matters
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