This best-selling book is a clear, thorough, and straight-forward guide for directors and company secretaries of smaller or newly incorporated companies in the UK. It offers information on the legal, accounting, and tax compliance rules, as well as implications on running a business as a limited company, whether in England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. Written in plain language and using practical examples, diagrams, and checklists, the book is an easy-to-follow guide for both professionals and lay people. The handy text covers all the essential information required for establishing and managing a limited company. Fully updated, this eighth edition takes into account significant amendments made to the UK's Companies Act 2006, in relation to the appointment and powers of proxies and corporate representatives to attend company shareholder meetings, registration of charges granted by a company to secure its borrowings, and company share buy-backs. The book also includes changes in employment law and insolvency law. One specific chapter looks at the company's need to use lawyers, accountants, and bankers. It analyzes the do-it-yourself versus buy-it-in decision, sets out the wide range of services on offer, and suggests how to get the most out of using professionals.