The footer is the point, not the logo
A letterhead is two things pretending to be one. The top is branding and it is entirely yours to decide. The bottom is a legal disclosure and it is not optional.
Almost every free letterhead template gets the first part right and ignores the second completely, which produces a smart document that quietly fails the only test anybody applies to it.
What has to be on it
For a limited company or an LLP, regulation 25 puts four things on business letters:
- Your registered name
- The part of the UK you are registered in
- Your company number
- Your registered office address
Business letters are one of only three things regulation 25 reaches, the others being order forms and websites. Invoices and receipts need the registered name under regulation 24 but not the rest, which is a distinction worth knowing when somebody asks why the two documents differ.
A sole trader trading under a business name is covered by section 1202 instead, and needs their own name and an address at which documents can be served.
The trading name trap
This catches careful people. You trade as Vale Fabrication. The company is Vale Fabrication Limited. The letterhead says Vale Fabrication in large type at the top, and nothing else.
That is a breach, because the requirement is on the registered name and a trading name does not satisfy it. The fix is not to rebrand: put the trading name at the top at whatever size you like, and let the registered name sit in the footer with the number and the office. Both appear, everybody is happy, and nobody has to look at "Limited" in 48 point.
Two addresses, not one
Your registered office is a legal address. It is frequently your accountant. It is often not where you want post to arrive.
Show both. The registered office because you have to, and the correspondence address because otherwise every letter goes to somebody who has to forward it. Choosing one and dropping the other is how you either breach the regulation or spend a year chasing post.
Naming a director is all or nothing
Regulation 26: if a business letter includes the name of any director, other than in the text or as a signatory, it must name every director.
Signing the letter at the bottom is fine. Mentioning a colleague in a sentence is fine. A name sitting in the printed header is what triggers it, and naming three of your four directors is the breach.
Most businesses conclude it is easier to leave directors off the letterhead entirely than to reprint it every time the board changes. That is a perfectly good answer.
Put it on every page
Nothing requires this and it is worth doing. Letters get separated. A second sheet with no name on it is anonymous paper, and the person filing it at the other end has no idea what it belongs to.
It costs nothing, it survives photocopying, and it is the single cheapest thing you can do to make your paperwork look like it came from an organised business.
Common questions
What has to go on a company letterhead?
Your registered name, the part of the UK you are registered in, your company number and your registered office address. That is regulation 25 of the 2015 Regulations, and business letters are one of only three things it applies to, the others being order forms and websites. A sole trader trading under a business name needs their own name and an address where documents can be served instead.
Can I just put my trading name on it?
At the top, yes, as large as you like. But the registered name still has to appear somewhere, because the requirement is on the registered name and a trading name does not satisfy it. This is the commonest defect on an otherwise careful letterhead: a beautiful header with the trading name and no mention anywhere of the company that is actually contracting.
Do I have to show my registered office if I work somewhere else?
Yes, and you can show both. The registered office is a legal disclosure; the address you want post sent to is a convenience. Showing only the registered office annoys everybody who then writes to your accountant, and showing only your working address misses the requirement. Both on, clearly labelled, solves it.
Can I name the managing director on it?
Only if you name all of them. Regulation 26: where a business letter includes the name of any director other than in the text or as a signatory, it must disclose the name of every director. Signing the letter is fine. A name printed in the header triggers the rule, and most businesses find taking it off easier than keeping a list current every time the board changes.
Should the footer be on every page?
Nothing requires it and you should do it anyway. A two page letter whose second sheet carries no identifying detail gets separated from the first in somebody else's filing. It costs nothing and it is the difference between a document that survives being photocopied and one that does not.
What happens if I get it wrong?
It is a criminal offence carrying a fine, and there is a civil consequence that matters more in practice. Under section 83 of the Companies Act, a company that sues on a contract it made while in breach of these rules can have the claim dismissed, if the defendant shows they suffered prejudice because of it and the court does not think it just and equitable to let the case continue. The trading disclosure tool sets that out properly.