Private Limited Company Formation, Off the Shelf Companies, Incorporation

On 1 October 2009 the final phase of the 2006 Companies Act came into effect. The main provisions affecting company formation are:

Nominal (or authorised) capital was abolished. This means that companies no longer specify a maximum number of shares which can be issued.
Directors supply both a service and a home address (which can be the same). The home address will not be placed on the public record, although it will still be available to credit reference agencies.
There are new Memorandum and Articles. The Memorandum simply states the name(s) of the shareholder(s), and cannot be amended after incorporation. The Act specifies standard Articles, although variations on this are allowed.
There are new rules governing what names are allowed. The rules are set out in the The Company and Business Names (Miscellaneous Provisons) Regulations 2009.
The full text of the Act is available here.