Company
A company is a legally-recognised group or association of people who have a common goal and who use their respective talents to achieve that goal. In the UK, companies must be registered under the Companies Acts (or other similar legislation).
Companies can take various forms, including:
- Voluntary organisations
- Partnerships
- Private limited companies
- Public limited companies
- Limited liability companies.
- Unlimited companies.
- Franchises
- Workers cooperatives
In the UK, when a company’s name is followed by the letters ‘Ltd’, it denotes that the company is a private limited company. In other words, in the event of the company being liable say, for a misdemeanour or economic misadventure, the shareholders or subscribers of that company are liable only for the amount of their investment or what they have guaranteed to the company, ie, they have limited liability. For example, if an investor owns £10,000 worth of shares and the company becomes bankrupt (or ‘goes bust’), the investor is only liable for the value of the shares even if the company’s debts run into millions.
If a limited company is guaranteed by shares (as opposed to limited by guarantee), it may be a private or public company. A private company limited by shares is denoted by Ltd; a public company limited by shares is denoted by PLC (or Plc) after its name. In a Plc, the shares are available to be purchased by the public.
Companies may also be classified according to whether they are public (ie owned by the state) or private.
Suffixes used in various countries to denote whether a company is public or private:
Country | Public limited company | Private limited company |
UK | PLC | Ltd |
France | S.A | s.a.r.l |
Germany | AG | GmbH |
Italy | S.p.A | s.r.l |
Spain | S.A | s.r.l |
Czech Rep | a.s | s.r.o |
Greece | S.A (AE in Greek) | EPE |
Hungary | Zrt | kft |
Romania | S.A | s.r.l |
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Business.
- Business model.
- Cash flow.
- Consortium
- Investment.
- Joint venture.
- Leverage.
- Limited liability partnership.
- Limited company.
- Managing the procurement process.
- Organisation.
- Overheads.
- Partnering and joint ventures.
- Personal service company.
- Private sector.
- Relevant cost.
- Special purpose vehicles.
- Succession planning.
Featured articles and news
Designing sustainability and performance into buildings
Specifying and selecting sustainable resilient timber products.
Modifying wood to improve resistance to decay and movement.
A last minute, long look for built environment professionals.
The architecture of creative reuse. Book review.
Installing solar panels on listed structures.
Sustainable development global goals, history in progress?
"Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been."
Mike Kagioglou FCIOB named CIOB President
'Sustainable Development Goals must be focus for construction'
BSRIA training; a look at what's on offer
From energy management to compliance training.
TESP video warns to beware of rogue trainers.
Highlighting the slippery tactics of non-approved providers.
New Building Safety Wiki launched
Boosting awareness and understanding of the new fire safety regime.
New playbook on AI in construction published by CIOB
How to get to grips with, and the best from AI.
Digital Construction Report NBS
BIM, cloud, off-site, immersive tech, AI, twins and sustainability.
ECA learning zone and industry focus video series
From updates and amendments to circular economy, emergency lighting and much more.
The Building People Communities Network
Celebrating and amplifying voices of the under-represented, this refugee week and pride month.
Pride of Place: queer heritage
Acknowledging and taking pride in LGBTQ histories.
A reminder of the five basic styles that determine columns.