Company formation in Liverpool

Starting a business in Liverpool

Liverpool's economy mixes a historic port with a strong culture and visitor economy. The Liverpool City Region Growth Plan, published in October 2025, highlights:

• advanced manufacturing
• health and life sciences
• digital and technology, and the creative industries
• maritime
• professional and business services
• the visitor economy
• clean energy

Liverpool City Council's own plan adds detail. It names creative industries — including screen, music and gaming — as priority clusters, promotes Liverpool as a music destination, supports film and TV production, and builds on the legacy of major events such as Eurovision. It also commits the council to working with partners on the city region's Life Sciences Investment Zone.

For founders, this means many Liverpool companies are built around events, music, hospitality and screen work, where a limited company makes it easier to contract with venues, broadcasters and promoters. Others are life sciences or digital businesses working with the city's universities and hospitals, or logistics firms connected to the port.

Which registered office do you need?

A company formed for a Liverpool business is registered in England and Wales. Its registered office must be in England or Wales; it does not need to be on Merseyside.

You can use your own premises, your home address (which then becomes public on the Companies House register), or our central London address, which works as a registered office for England and Wales companies. We scan official letters from Companies House and HMRC and email them to you.

If you run a bar, café or venue, you may want your premises as the registered office anyway. If you work from home or travel for events, a separate registered office stops your home address appearing online next to your company name.

Local support for new businesses

Liverpool founders can use several free public services:

• Growth Platform — the Liverpool City Region's business support service and home of the city region's Growth Hub. It connects businesses with support to start, scale and innovate.
• Liverpool City Council Business Support Service — run by the council's Business and Economic Support Team with Liverpool Chamber of Commerce as a delivery partner. It offers advice for residents thinking of starting a business, workshops for early-stage entrepreneurs, help finding premises and referrals to funding, skills and innovation support. You request help through the form on the council's website.
• Business & IP Centre Liverpool City Region — the regional centre is at Liverpool Central Library, with local centres at Allerton, Spellow, Newton-le-Willows and St Helens libraries. It offers free workshops, market research and intellectual property help — useful if you want to protect a brand, a band name or a product design.

Licences for food, alcohol, entertainment and street trading come from the council, not Companies House.

Example

Sean is a sound engineer who has worked freelance at Liverpool gigs and festivals for six years. He is setting up an event production company with a business partner, Amy, and they will hire crew and equipment for each job.

They choose the Privacy Package for £1,000 incl. VAT. It includes a registered office and director service address for the first year, so their home addresses stay off the register, plus a virtual trading address and a free .co.uk domain for their website. They split shares 50/50.

They check the name with our free name check, order on Monday, both verify their identity online that evening, and the company is registered on Tuesday. Next, they contact the Business & IP Centre at Central Library to look into registering their brand as a trade mark.

How it works

1. Choose a package and check your name. Everything happens online, from Liverpool or anywhere else. Use our free name check first.
2. Place your order and verify your identity. As a Companies House Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), we carry out the identity checks for each director and person with significant control, so you do not need a separate GOV.UK One Login check.
3. We prepare and file the application. We draft the memorandum and articles, set up the share structure and submit everything to Companies House. The £100 Companies House fee is already in our price.
4. Your company is registered. Once the checks are complete, most companies are registered within 24 hours. Your certificate of incorporation and company documents appear in your online client account.

Next steps

• Start with our free company name check.
• For the formation only, choose the Digital Package at £290 incl. VAT.
• For privacy, choose the Privacy Package, or add a Registered Office Address (£250 a year) to any package.

If you are unsure how to structure a company with a partner, or about tax on event income, get advice from an accountant or solicitor.

Frequently asked questions

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