Entrepreneurs offered chance to start a business for £1

A business management firm has pledged to help entrepreneurs start their own company – for the price of £1.

Inform Direct has launched the special deal to run until the end of 2014 with the aim of breaking all records for start-ups in the region.

Henry Catchpole, founder and chief executive, said, “We want to encourage entrepreneurs who may have had a business idea burning away inside, but who have never had the means or the bravery to make it a reality. This offer will allow potential entrepreneurs to make their business dreams a reality, by cutting the cost of the first step.”

Adrian Melrose, of Suffolk-based Inn Style, used Inform Direct to form his company and said, “My company was formed on the same day the application was made. I paid less than going direct to Companies House and I was provided with draft minutes for my first board meeting as well as share certificates. It is everything you need.”

Mr Catchpole said, “There have been some incredible business deals for £1 in the past so you would be in very good company to launch your own business for this sum.”

Users can find out about the deal and register their business here.

Ken Bates bought Chelsea football club in 1982 for £1, while taking on debts of £1.5m and when German car company, BMW, sold Rover, the Phoenix consortium paid a paltry sum.

Struggling furniture firm MFI, once worth £1bn, was sold for a pound and Barings Bank, which collapsed after the Nick Leeson rogue trader scandal was also bought for this sum by the Dutch financial group, ING.

Mr Catchpole said, “Of course, a lot of these deals were done during times of financial crisis or when those companies involved risked going under. What we are offering is a chance to launch something entirely new at a time when business is booming.”

Inform Direct provides a cloud-based solution enabling businesses and their professional advisers to manage all their company records. The service provides an online platform for a range of actions including submitting annual returns, updating shareholder records, creating share certificates, changing your company name, producing dividend vouchers and forming a new company.