Guidance

Company strike off, dissolution and restoration

Information for directors, secretaries or company advisers about how to dissolve a company or restore a company to the register.

From:
Companies House
Published
31 October 2014
Last updated
1 May 2024 — See all updates

Documents

Strike off, dissolution and restoration

HTML

Details

This guidance includes information on:

  • why a company may apply to be struck off
  • when a company cannot apply to be struck off
  • how to apply and who to tell
  • how strike off and restoration notices are published in the Gazette
  • withdrawing a strike off application
  • objecting to a company’s dissolution
  • offences and penalties
  • what happens to companies no longer in operation
  • how to restore a company to the register by a court order or administrative restoration

Before applying to strike off your company

You have certain responsibilities to close down your business properly.

The company’s bank account will be frozen from the date of dissolution. Any credit balance in the account and other assets will pass to the Crown - you’ll have to restore the company to get anything back.

Use our online service to Close a company.

This will help us process your application as quickly as possible. It takes much longer to process paper documents sent by post.

Updates to this page

Published 31 October 2014
Last updated 1 May 2024 + show all updates

  1. Fees updated.

  2. Updated for new measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.

  3. Section about objecting to strike off replaced with link to mainstream guidance - removed duplicate content about how to send an objection.

  4. Direct email address added to object to a company being struck off.

  5. Object to a company's strike off - link added to online service.

  6. Removed information about the temporary pause of strike off processes as these processes were resumed on 8 March 2021.

  7. We've temporarily paused our voluntary and compulsory strike off processes for one month from 21 January until 21 February 2021.

  8. Update to guidance

  9. Guidance updated.

  10. Section 10.3 contact address details updated.

  11. Welsh HTML added

  12. Guidance converted to HTML

  13. Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Regulations 2016 came into force. This guidance has been amended in Chapter 3 to include these new regulations.

  14. Guidance updated as a result of The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act.

  15. Section 10.1 corrected: 3 months to 2

  16. OLTR address updated and striking off periods updated to 2 months due to SBEE act implementation.

  17. Welsh translation added

  18. English HTML guidance added

  19. Guidance updated to version 3.8.

  20. Version 3.6 replaced with version 3.7

  21. Guidance updated from version 3.5 to version 3.6

  22. Welsh translation added.

  23. First published.

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