email signatures and email stationery     

Regulatory information required in your emails and on your website

Companies in the UK must include certain regulatory information on their websites and in their email footers before 1st January 2007 or they will breach the Companies Act and risk a fine.

Every company should list its company registration number, place of registration and registered office address in its emails and on its' website as a result of an update to the legislation of 1985. The information must be in legible characters and is already required on business letters, but now the duty has been extended to websites, order forms and electronic documents. The change came into effect on 1st January 2007.

For websites the specified information does not need to appear on every page.

This is the minimum information that your email signature, email stationery, and website must include:

• The name of the organisation with which the customer is contracting
• The full name of the company
• The geographic address
• The email address

If the business is a company:

• The registered office address
• The place of registration
• The registration number

If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including:

• The name of the association
• registration number

If the organisation is registered for VAT:

• the vat registration number

Finally, any prices quoted must be clear and state whether prices include VAT and delivery charges.