Legal Question in Business Law in United Kingdom

Company or group structures

The Covent Garden Street Performers have been a loosley formed association for abut 20 years now. We have recently put in a bid to Westminster Council to jointly run the liscencing and day to day running of Street Performing at Covent Garden, a top London Tourist attraction.

For this we intend to open a bank account and raise money by performing fundraising activities, and charging a membership fee for performers who are regularily working at Covent Garden. The money would a sinking fund for daya to day running of the performing space, and also other expenses such as the hiring of a lawyer.

We also wish to start an official website, and in the future book foriegn acts to perform at Covent Garden. We don't want any one person to have unlimited liability, and we want to protect members from fraud. What is the best group, or company structure that would achieve this?


Asked on 9/15/07, 5:38 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Howard Richard Howard & CO

Re: Company or group structures

The best vehicle to use is often a compromise between various interests but if the Members are not seeking any return from the Company in the forms of dividends etc usually the common structure to adopt is a Company limited by Guarantee with no share Capital.

Members agree only to pay a fixed one off membership fee or guarantee and it is not obligatory to collect this until the company is wound up if it then has liabilities.

As with all companies it will have to file an annual return and annual accounts with companies but this is a small burden compare with the advantages of limited liability for its members which will be restricted to the amount of the membership guarantee unpaid.

The rules of membership and the way the Company operate have to be set out in the Companies Articles of association which can be agreed by the founding members.

Once the Company is incorporated the directors who will operate the bank account will have to go to the bank personally to provide identification documents.

Like all companies it will need a lawyer and accountant! but it should be possible to operate it without too much legal input.

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Answered on 9/18/07, 8:49 am


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