oaths, a notary public, a justice of the peace or a solicitor. There is usually a £5 fee payable to the person that witnesses the statuary declaration. Electronic process The key difference with the paper process is that there is no Form 12 and requirement for a statutory declaration. This significantly speeds the process and Companies House's record for an Electronic Company formation is 23 minutes. Because the electronic process requires compatible software that works with Companies House eFiling service, companies are usually formed through a Company Formation Agent. Annual returns Every company must deliver an annual return to Companies House at least once every twelve months. It has 28 days from the date to which the return is made up to do this. Failure to file a return is a criminal offence, for which the officers of the company may be fined. There is an annual document-processing fee of £40 if filed by paper (or £13 for users of the Electronic Filing or WebFilings services), which must be sent to Companies House with the annual return. Conversion Private limited company to a public limited company Both a private company limited by shares and an unlimited company with a share capital may re-register as a plc, but a company without a share capital cannot do so. A private company must pass a special resolution that it be so re-registered and deliver a copy of the resolution together with an application form to the Registrar. The resolution must also: alter the company's memorandum so that it states that the company is to be a public limited company, increase its share capital to the statutory minimum of £50,000, make any other alterations to the memorandum so that it conforms to that required for a public limited company, make any required alterations to the articles of association of the company. If it does not already have sufficient share capital, the company must issue £50,000 in shares a minimum of 25% part paid. See also European Company Statute Limited liability company Limited liability partnership Private limited company Public company S.A. (corporation) United Kingdom company law Unlimited company Virtual business References External links Companies Act 2006, Office of Public Sector Information Companies House guide to company formation Companies of the United Kingdom Types of business entity United Kingdom company law Limited company