Legal Requirements for a Company Website
After incorporation, lots of businesses seek out creating a company website to help aid with conducting their business operations, this is usually to either provide services or sell goods online to customers (specific for e-commerce companies). A company website is a good way to kick-start growth within a business by establishing an online presence and attracting customers.
However, by UK law, companies are expected to include and display a set of legal information on their website in order to remain compliant. This would mostly include key information surrounding the company's formation, like full company name and registered number, and if the company has multiple websites then the information would need to be included on each one.
Understanding what legal information is required to be shown on a businesses website is important. Failure to comply with these legal obligations could lead to costly disputes with either regulators or consumers, which could be statutory fines or even prosecution of the company.
What Information needs to be displayed?
As per Companies House's rules, the main legal information generally required to be displayed on the company website includes:
- The company's name and registered number
- The registered office address (registered with Companies House)
- The jurisdiction of incorporation (England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland)
- If company is limited, it must include it's limited status (this is typically displayed when spelling out the company's full name, including 'limited' or 'ltd')
Additional Information Required
- As well as the company registered name, the trading name should also be included (if different to the registered one).
- Contact details for the company including: relevant email address(es), phone number and business address should be displayed.
- If applicable, the VAT number must be shown.
- Details of registration with any trading bodies, associations or regulators.
- If the company is being dissolved, this must be disclosed.
Non-Compulsory Items
Including the company's directors names is not compulsory, however if the company chooses to display this, then all directors must be listed if there are multiple.
The Display
Locating the legal information on the website is also a key thing to consider.
It is unnecessary for the information to be included on every page of the website, however it must be clearly visible and easy to find. Generally, displaying the data in a footer of every page or clearly labelling a section that discloses the company information, like an 'About Us' page, is a good way to go about it and makes it easy for a customer to access.
For example, you can easily find our company's legal information, with the necessary links, in the footer of our websites:
Terms and Conditions
Typically companies will need a 'Terms and Conditions' section displayed on their company website. This is more likely to be required if the company sells and/or buys products through the website, as these services usually come with conditions and terms of agreement.
Including a 'Terms and Conditions' section is to legally establish agreements between the business and it's customers. This is important to have as it defines the terms of use and protects the company's rights. It also helps minimise disputes between the website user's that could otherwise arise.
Typically, the terms and conditions will include:
- The 'ownership and intellectual property' - essentially who owns the website and it's content, as well as the user's rights.
- Any disclaimers for features on the website - clauses that limit the responsibility of the company in the event of any issues.
- Any and all user obligations for when using the website and it's services.
- A breakdown of it's refund and returns policies.
Outlining all terms and conditions will help protect the company from any potential issues that could arise with customers that are not directly the businesses responsibility.
Policies and Personal Data
Privacy Notice
If the business holds personal data, the company must do so in compliance with data protection legislation.
The company website must include a privacy policy (or a processing notice) that is in compliance with the principles of both the UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The company must disclose:
- How they apply GDPR regulations
- What personal data they use and how it is stored
- Why the information is needed
- How long the data will be kept for
- The "lawful basis" for holding personal data
This will need to be visible and clearly outlined somewhere on the website.
Main Takeaways
When setting up your company website, it's important to consider and comply with the legal information obligations and how the information should be displayed on the site.
Ensure that privacy and GDPR laws are followed if the company uses personal data, and clearly state how the company deals with that data.
It's also important to keep the legal information on the company website up-to-date, it's a good idea to update the website periodically to accommodate any information changes.
It would be best to seek legal and professional advice if you are looking to set up a company website and have any questions or concerns with what certain legal information will need to be displayed.
