Companies House will resume the voluntary strike off process from today, 10 September 2020, it has been announced.
It means that any business which had applied to be struck off prior to the Covid-19 pandemic will be removed from the official company register this month.
The news comes after temporary easement measures were imposed in April, pausing all strike off activity to “relieve the burden on businesses” and to “protect creditors and other interested parties who may have had difficulties in registering an objection”.
In practice, it means that any company due to be struck off before July 2020 will be removed in a phased approach over the next four weeks, providing no objection is received. Companies that applied to be struck off after July 2020 will be removed after the backlog has cleared.
The compulsory strike off process, meanwhile, will resume from 10 October 2020. This means that Companies House can manually remove companies from the register if it believes they are no longer trading. This could be triggered by outstanding documents, no response to communications or if a company has no directors.
To suspend the compulsory strike off process, you must file your outstanding documents or contact Companies House urgently.
Commenting on the resumption of services, Stuart Morgan, Intelligence and Enforcement Service Owner at Companies House, said: “Our priority has always been to relieve the burden on businesses which have been struggling during these unprecedented times.
“In reaching this decision, we have aimed to strike the right balance between supporting both companies and creditors. We have listened to our customers and stakeholders and we believe now is the right time to resume voluntary strike off action.”
He added: “This may result in a large number of companies being struck off the register over a short period. However, these figures should not be misinterpreted as they are a direct result of the easements we put in place and will include companies that applied before the coronavirus outbreak.”
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