An SH01 form is used to tell Companies House when new shares are allotted in a private limited company. This is also known as a ‘return of allotment of shares’ form.

A limited company normally allocates shares and appoints shareholders during the incorporation (formation) process, but if anything changes at a later date you’ll need to complete an SH01 form to report this.

You might have multiple reasons for allotting new shares, such as including family members in your business, or issuing new shares in exchange for investment from shareholders. 
 

You must submit an SH01 form to Companies House within one month of the new shares being allotted. This ensures that Companies House always have an accurate record of your shareholder structure, and how company ownership is divided by shares.

It’s a good idea to round up all the information you’ll need to fill in the form before you get started. The SH01 Form generally requires:

• Company name
• Your company registration number
• Type of shares allotted
• Date of allotment
• The currency of the shares e.g Sterling or Euro
• Number of shares
• The nominal value of shares
• Amounts paid or unpaid per share
• An updated statement of capital

You won’t need to include the new shareholders’ details in the SH01 Form, only information about the shares themselves.

You’ll need to include the new shareholders’ information next time you submit a confirmation statement, or you can submit an early confirmation statement if the new shareholders want to be recorded with Companies House sooner.

A director usually has the power to allot new shares if the company has only one class of share. This is a simple case of coming to an agreement on the shares, and filling in the necessary paperwork.

However, if your company uses different classes of shares, things get a bit more complicated. A director can still create new shares, but will need to have permission to do so. Their permission will either be written as part of the articles of association, or it can be granted by a special resolution passed by the existing shareholders.

The articles of association and any existing shareholder agreements should also be checked before new shares can be issued. This is to check if existing shareholders have a right to new shares over a brand new shareholder.

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