UK Community Interest Company (CIC)

This service includes

• Emailed PDF of Statutory Books
• Emailed PDF of Certificate of Incorporation
• Emailed PDF of Minutes of the first meeting of Directors
• Emailed PDF of Share Certificate(s)
• Emailed PDF of Memorandum & Articles of Association
• Companies House filing fee paid by us
• Free Online Company Manager to Maintain your Companies
• Ready to trade limited liability partnership
• Web authentication code to update Companies House records
• Free Online & Telephone Support for the Life of your Company

About Community Interest Companies (CICs)

Community Interest Companies (CICs) are defined as business organizations with social objectives. Profits and assets of a CIC are used for the public good. The CICs are different from Charities in many ways. CIC legislation allows social entrepreneurs to both manage the business and earn a salary.

Features of Community Interest Companies:

• CICs can conduct any trading activity, subject to the usual regulatory restrictions.
• CICs will pay market rates for their abilities to their directors while charities face restrictions. This feature enables CICs to find the best talent.
• Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) is a special tax relief that is now available for donors who provide CICs with debt and equity funding.
• Profit and interest will be provided to investors, subject to distributable funds of up to 35%.
• CICs can issue performance-related loans that pay interest on the basis of the tring results. The interest is reduced to 20%.

Features of a CIC limited by guarantee:

• 1 member is eligible for 1 vote. It's not based on regulation.
• There will be no owners (shareholders), only members.
• As LBGs do not have a share structure, they cannot afford dividends.
• LBGs are supported by grants and funding providers.

Features of a CIC limited by shares:

• Voting depends on the shareholding of each member.
• A dividend is easy to pay, subject to the dividend limit.
• Easier to issue shares in return for capital.
• A Share structure is necessary when the CIC will have a holding company or will be owned by a charity.

CIC regulator approval

A company has to be approved by the CIC Regulator to be a CIC. The Regulator will make sure the provision of the asset lock is included in the Articles of Association.

What our service is all about:

Companies House have now changed its method to process CICs. If there are fewer than 6 participants and none are corporate i.e. LTD or LBG, registration with a CIC should take less than 1 week.

The time taken will depend on how quickly you react after placing the order to our request for additional details about your application. When your application is submitted we will keep you aware of its progress. The Companies House's new CIC ordering system would apply only to applications of less than 5 company members, i.e. owners, guarantors and directors. The method can take 3-4 weeks if there are more than 5. On placing your order you will receive an email requesting additional details. The details we request will allow us to fill in the documents needed to incorporate your company; CIC 36 or, if you change the status of an existing company, CIC 37.

All the directors will need to sign these documents and provide the following information:

• An overview of the group that you help out,
• An overview of the planned activities of your enterprise, and
• A description of how society will benefit from your activities.

You can also pick and edit the related model Articles of Association to fit your circumstances. There are 5 choices to choose from:

Model 1 is used when:

• The company is limited by guarantee,
• All the directors are also CIC members, and
• All the participants are CIC Administrators.

Model 2 is used when:

• The company is limited by guarantee, and
• The number of members is greater than the number of directors.

Model 3 is used when:

• The company is limited by shares, and the director is a corporate shareholder,
• Every shareholder must be a director, and
• Only an asset-locked entity will earn the dividends.

Model 4 is used when:

• The company is limited by shares,
• The organization has more shareholders than administrators, and
• Only an asset-locked entity will earn the dividends.

Model 5 is used when:

• The company is limited by shares,
• The organization has more shareholders than administrators, and
• Only an asset-locked entity will earn the dividends.