Business surface intelligence for UK companies

Website legal footer template for UK companies

Copy the template that matches your business, replace every item in capitals with the value on the register, keep it as text, and put it in the footer of every page. Each template carries what the Companies Act regulations and the E-Commerce Regulations require, and nothing they do not.

Private limited company, England and Wales

EXAMPLE TRADING LIMITED, registered in England and Wales, company number 01234567. Registered office: 1 EXAMPLE STREET, EXAMPLETOWN, EX1 2MP. Email: HELLO@EXAMPLE.CO.UK.

Add, if they apply:

• VAT number GB123456789 if you are VAT registered.
• BRAND is a trading name of EXAMPLE TRADING LIMITED. if the site trades under a brand.
• Trading address: ... if you trade somewhere other than the registered office. Optional, and useful.

Company registered in Scotland or Northern Ireland

EXAMPLE TRADING LIMITED, registered in Scotland, company number SC123456. Registered office: 1 EXAMPLE STREET, EXAMPLETOWN, EX1 2MP. Email: HELLO@EXAMPLE.CO.UK.

Northern Ireland: registered in Northern Ireland, company number NI123456. Keep the two-letter prefix; it is part of the number. A company registered in Wales with a Welsh-only registered office may say registered in Wales.

Limited liability partnership

EXAMPLE PARTNERS LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales, number OC123456. Registered office: 1 EXAMPLE STREET, EXAMPLETOWN, EX1 2MP. Email: HELLO@EXAMPLE.CO.UK.

Scottish LLPs have SO numbers, Northern Irish LLPs NC. The word "partners" is often used for members; there is no requirement to list them on a website.

Sole trader or partnership trading under a business name

EXAMPLE DESIGNS is the trading name of JANE EXAMPLE, 1 EXAMPLE STREET, EXAMPLETOWN, EX1 2MP. Email: HELLO@EXAMPLE.CO.UK.

There is no company number, so do not invent one. The E-Commerce Regulations require the name, a geographic address and an email address on a commercial website; section 1202 of the Companies Act 2006 requires the name and a service address on business letters, orders, invoices, receipts and demands. For a partnership, name each partner or, for large partnerships, say where the list can be inspected.

Community interest company

EXAMPLE COMMUNITY CIC, a community interest company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, company number 01234567. Registered office: 1 EXAMPLE STREET, EXAMPLETOWN, EX1 2MP.

A CIC that is not a public company must state that it is a limited company (regulation 25(2)(e)); the words "limited by guarantee" or "limited by shares" do that.

Company exempt from "limited" (most charitable companies)

EXAMPLE FOUNDATION, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, company number 01234567, and a registered charity, number 1123456. Registered office: 1 EXAMPLE STREET, EXAMPLETOWN, EX1 2MP.

A company whose name omits "limited" under section 60 must state that it is a limited company (regulation 25(2)(d)). Charity law separately requires a charitable company to say it is a charity if its name does not make that clear.

FCA-authorised firm

EXAMPLE ADVICE LIMITED is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 123456. Registered in England and Wales, company number 01234567. Registered office: 1 EXAMPLE STREET, EXAMPLETOWN, EX1 2MP.

The FCA's status-disclosure wording is set by its rules and differs by permission; use the wording the rules give for your firm. An appointed representative says instead: EXAMPLE ADVICE LIMITED is an appointed representative of PRINCIPAL LIMITED, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 654321, followed by its own company details.

What to check before you publish

1. The registered name is exactly as on the register. "Ltd" for "Limited" is accepted in practice, since the Act allows either ending; a trading name instead of the registered name is not.
2. The number has all its characters, leading zeros and prefix included. Open your company's page on Companies House and copy it.
3. The registered office is the address on the register today, not the one you moved from.
4. The place of registration matches the number: no prefix, England and Wales; SC, Scotland; NI, Northern Ireland.
5. The line is text, readable without zooming, on every page.
6. Nothing in the line is a guess. If you are not sure whether you are VAT registered, find out before you write a VAT number.

The footer of this site

Observes practises what this page describes. The footer of every page on observes.co.uk reads:

Hawksfold Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17108697. Registered office: Lower Hawksfold, Vann Road, Haslemere, GU27 3NR.

That is the operating company's disclosure, copied from the register. It is also exactly the kind of line Observes looks for when it attaches a website to a company: a registered name and a number that match one entry on the register, on the site's own pages.

This page is general information about UK company law, not legal advice. The regulations were checked on the date shown below; check legislation.gov.uk for changes after that.

Written by Nathan. Last reviewed 8 October 2026.