UK · pre-registered limited companies
Shelf Companies
A shelf company is a limited company that was registered, then left dormant — “on the shelf” — so a buyer can take it over and trade under its original incorporation date. UK transfer completes in 1–2 business days after KYC. Price scales with age: fresh-formed stock starts around £40, 5+ year companies cost thousands.
What age is actually worth
Age is the whole product, so be precise about what each band buys you. Sellers price the curve but don't explain it — here's the logic we price against:
| Age band | What it unlocks | What it does NOT do | Typical UK price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–12 months | Skips the 1–2 week formation wait; instant company number for contracts signed this week. | No credibility gain — everyone can see it's months old. | £40–£400 |
| 1–3 years | Passes “trading address + 1yr existence” filters used by marketplaces, payment processors, and some landlords. | Doesn't satisfy tender rules that want 2–3 years of accounts, not just age. | £400–£1,200 |
| 3–6 years | Meets most “minimum years since incorporation” tender and vendor-onboarding thresholds. | Dormant accounts ≠ trading history. A procurement officer who asks for turnover will see zeros. | £1,200–£3,000 |
| 6+ years | Rare stock; buys perception in industries where longevity is the shorthand for stability. | Nothing a 4-year company doesn't, in most regulated checks. You're paying for scarcity. | £3,000+ |
Price bands reflect the UK market across sellers; our listed prices are on each inventory row.
When forming new beats buying shelf
Our own inventory competes with a £12, 24-hour Companies House formation — so here's the honest split. Form new when nobody downstream checks your age: most B2C, most online business, anything where you bill through a platform. Buy shelf when a specific gate demands age you don't have — a tender's minimum-years rule, a supplier onboarding form, a lease application. And if the gate wants filed trading accounts rather than years since incorporation, neither option works; only time does. That last case is where sellers stay quiet and buyers waste money.
Filed dormant accounts up to the last period, confirmation statements current, written warranty of non-trading in the sale agreement, and the full statutory register pack on handover.
Questions UK buyers actually ask
Do banks treat a shelf company differently from a new company?
Less than sellers imply. UK banks run the same onboarding on both; what a shelf company changes is eligibility filters — tenders, marketplaces and landlords that require N years since incorporation. The bank still asks who you are, what the business does, and where the money comes from.
Does a shelf company come with a bank account?
In the UK, almost never — accounts don’t transfer with ownership in practice, because banks re-verify beneficial owners on any change. Treat “with bank account” claims as a re-application with introductions, and see our offshore banking reality check.
Can I rename a shelf company after buying it?
Yes — a UK name change files at Companies House in a day or two and doesn’t reset the incorporation date. Most buyers rename immediately; the age stays.
UK shelf companies in stock
Dormant since incorporation, accounts filed, dated and priced on the row. Verify any company at Companies House before you pay.