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Companies House has encouraged businesses in order to use its improved online tools as it announced it will not be reopening the London office, or customer-service counters in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
Headquartered within Cardiff, the agency closed its location in the particular English capital at the start of the pandemic – and it has remained shut ever since. Also shuttered in response to the pandemic were walk-up counter tops in Belfast, Edinburgh plus Cardiff, which offered in-person support with Companies Home services.
In light associated with improvements its online platforms, the agency has decided it will not be reopening any of these facilities, it has announced.
“Working along with customers, we’ve put new ways in place to submit documents, enhancing our digital offering and reducing reliance on public counters, ” Companies House said, in a statement. “As we continue to transform our services to provide a truly modern and electronic service, it’s been made the decision that our own public counters will not reopen. ”
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The agency added: “It’s quicker and easier to file information on the internet. Our on-line services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ”
In response to an enquiry from PublicTechnology , Companies Home indicated that no jobs have been lost as a result of the particular closure of the offices plus counters.
It also said that anyone that requires assistance digital platforms can call a support line that is open through 8. 30am to 6pm on weekdays, and offers step-by-step help with on the web services. The particular agency furthermore employs a dedicated Customer Care team, whose role is to support users that will still document paper documents. An Accessibility Team, meanwhile, “provide reasonable adjustments to customers that would otherwise struggle to use the services”, this said.
While the support counters are now closed, Businesses House still runs offices in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, where members of the public may still deliver documents by hand.
The company, which will be sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy plus Industrial Strategy, manages the registration and dissolution, as well as the filing of annual accounts, updated company information, and other official files for more than four million limited companies registered in the UK. An additional 500, 000 firms are authorized with Companies House each year.
Members associated with the general public can also use its free online services to search for information on businesses and directors, and download company paperwork.
