From 1 January 2007, all companies and LLPs with a website and communicating electronically are required to include mandatory information on their website and in their electronic communications. This includes business conducted by SMS messaging.
Peijun Xia of Sykes Anderson LLP explains the new requirements for business websites and electronic communications.
From 1 January 2007, if your website does not contain the company’s full name – including any trading names, its place of registration and registration number and registered office address, you are committing an offence.
Example
ABC products is a trading name of XYZ Ltd, a company registered in England under registration number xxxxx; registered office address is RO Address.
This information does not need to be on each page of your website but it would be sensible to include it at least on a ‘contact us’ or ‘legal information’ page.
This information does however need to be on ALL business related electronic communications and it would be advisable for it to be part of a standard signature on your emails. Please note that a PO Box address or email contact facility is unlikely to be sufficient for these purposes.
For an in-depth guide to the new rules, read our E-Commerce Legal Guide for Small Businesses.
Please note that this area of the law is a complex subject and you should not take or refrain from taking any step without full legal advice on your particular circumstances. The content of this article is of a general nature and no liability is accepted in connection with it or if any reliance is placed on it.
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