Rated #7 Best UK Company Formation Agent

Overall Rating:

9.2

Ease Of Use = 8.5

Value For Money = 9.0

Customer Support = 9.5

Services Offered = 9.7

PROS:

Wide range of services offered

Links to accountancy firm

Largest UK formation agent

CONS:

Occasionally confusing website

Prices shown don’t include VAT

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Brands Reviewed:

Hours Of Research:

Average Rating:

9.1

Companies Made Simple Review [UPDATED 2026] Companies Made Simple is probably the largest and most well-known company formation agent in the UK.

They boast that they have formed over 1 million companies since 2002 and come well-recommended by most of the entrepreneurs who have used their services.

One impressive thing our Companies Made Simple review has uncovered is that they offer virtually every service a new company could ever require, making them an ideal one-stop-shop when starting your business.

What you'll get from this page:

Advantages of Companies Made Simple

Companies Made Simple company formation agency

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Other than the fact Companies Made Simple are probably the biggest company formation agent around and trusted by so many people across the country, the other big pull of the brand is the services offered.

In terms of additional services available, no other formation agent can get close to Companies Made Simple, who offer all of the traditional services offered by formation agents plus extras like:

Offshore company formations
Apostilled documents
Certificates of good standing
Dormant company accounts

This makes them ideal if you prefer to have a single place where you can get virtually all of your business admin taken care of. They are also linked to a firm of accountants that can provide all manner of other services too, such as annual accounts and tax returns.

Like most company formation agents, Companies Made Simple also offer the more common services such as registered offices, mail forwarding, nominee services, etc. In terms of the range of services offered, you will not find another formation agent that can offer so much.

However, you should also take into account that many of the services can be bought separately, even if you do not use Companies Made Simple to form your company. This means the additional services should not be the standalone reason why you choose them to form your company.

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Disadvantages of Companies Made Simple

The biggest issue that our Companies Made Simple review has uncovered is that because of the amount of additional services offered, the website can be a little cluttered and confusing at times.

There are so many things to choose from and so many different packages, it’s often hard to establish what you actually need and which options are the best for you.

The formation process itself is relatively straight-forward, and is made of just 4 steps as shown on the website:

Step 1: Choose your company name
Step 2: Pick your package
Step 3: Continue to checkout
Step 4: Complete your company details.

Still, just choosing your package can be a daunting task and so for this reason we have had to give Companies Made Simple a low score for ‘Ease of Use’.

However, it should also be added that whilst the website can be confusing, the customer support offered is very good and so you can get help relatively easily if you get stuck.

Value for Money

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Companies Made Simple has 4 main pricing plans for its Limited Company formations:

Basic, at £109.99 plus VAT. This includes the formation, digital certificates and forms, a free business bank account and a reduced rate on a business number.
Privacy, at £119.99 plus VAT. This includes all features of Basic, plus a registered office address and director service address.
Comprehensive at £159.99 plus VAT. This includes printed certificates, including a printed Certificate of Incorporation and Share Certificates and a bound M&A (Memorandum and Articles of Association). This also includes the first year of Confirmation Statement filing, worth £89.99.
Ultimate at £199.99 plus VAT. This adds in mail forwarding for the first year, coworking access to Workhub in London, PSC online register and VAT registration.

There’s also separate packages for other formation options, including Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), Contractors, Non-UK Residents and Limited By Guarantee.

Our Companies Made Simple review has established that you do get pretty good value for money by using their services with every formation coming with a ‘Startup Toolkit’ which includes:

Free domain name
An initial free accountancy & tax consultation
Free small business startup guide

They also offer a free business bank account for each package, and up to £100 cashback for bank accounts on the Privacy or higher packages.

However, keep in mind that all prices are shown exclusive of VAT. This means you will need to add on 20% to all displayed prices (though if you’re VAT registered you’ll be able to offset this extra amount). This puts the cost of the basic company formation package up from £109.99 to £131.99.

The Companies Made Simple Formation Process

As previously stated, probably the hardest part of the formation process on Companies Made Simple is choosing which package is best for you as there are 4 to choose from for limited companies and some only vary slightly.

Other than that, the application process is relatively straight-forward.

Companies Made Simple Reviews From Customers:

Companies Made Simple has a 4.8 Excellent rating on Trustpilot, with 91% of its over 4,000 reviews 4 stars and above. Most of the reviews praise that the customer service was available at all hours, with a friendly and helpful service that are able to solve any issues that customers have.

Some of the negative comments mention that there are cheaper options elsewhere, and some complain that the entire process took longer than expected to set up the company. Like any company formation agent, there are also some very small use cases where a company could not be set up or some details were incorrect.

But given that only 7% of comments have given 1- or 2-star reviews, the vast majority of customers were happy with the service they got.

As always – we’d recommend getting all your information correct and in order before using any company formation agent to avoid any potential delays or issues.

We used Companies Made Simple to register our company with Companies House, and the process couldn’t have been smoother. Their platform was clear, fast, and easy to navigate. What could have been a time-consuming task took just minutes to complete. We received confirmation and documentation quickly, and everything was filed correctly the first time.
If you’re starting a business and want a hassle-free way to get registered, this service does exactly what it promises—simple, efficient company formation with no hidden complications. Highly recommended.
5-Star review from Miranda on Trustpilot

This service is always so quick and easy to use, the team are incredibly friendly and helpful. They really take the pain out of submitting applications and set up of a new company.
They are very quick to forward any and all mail received so it can be dealt with quickly and efficiently. I really cant recommend them enough!
5-Star review from Paul on Trustpilot

Very easy to navigate and very helpful customer service. It was very quick and easy to open my business with Companies Made simple, as when I tried to it by myself I run into a lot of admin work and mistakes. Whereas they did all the work for me and it was quick and smooth. Thank you so much!
5-Star review from Irina on Trustpilot

Companies Made Simple Review Summary

In summary, in terms of reputation and the number of services offered, it is hard to fault Companies Made Simple – it’s obvious why so many people recommend their services.

However, our Companies Made Simple review has also shown that once you take VAT into account, the prices are not as low as they first seem and the formation process itself can be both confusing and therefore time-consuming.

With this in mind, if you are not phased by technology and require some of the extra services that Companies Made Simple offer, they are a great choice for forming a company.

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