Company stamp maker for the UK
In the UK the common seal has been optional since the Companies Act 2006, so most companies do not need one, though many keep a stamp for letterheads, share certificates and overseas counterparties.
The UK is the clearest case of a jurisdiction where the answer is genuinely "you probably do not need one". The Companies Act 2006 removed the requirement for a common seal: a document can be executed by two directors, by a director and the secretary, or by a director whose signature is witnessed.
What a company stamp in the United Kingdom usually carries
- The registered company name exactly as shown at Companies House.
- The company registration number, which is the eight-character CRN.
- Sometimes "Common Seal" or the year of incorporation on a traditional seal.
- On an address stamp, the registered office as filed.
Why make it digitally
- Where a seal is used at all it is usually on share certificates and formal instruments, which are increasingly issued as PDFs.
- UK companies trading with counterparties in Africa, the Gulf or East Asia are regularly asked for a stamp even though their own law does not require one.
- A digital stamp costs nothing to change when the registered office moves, which a cut rubber stamp does.
Questions
Does a UK company need a company seal?
No. The Companies Act 2006 made the common seal optional, and a document can be executed by signature instead. Check your own articles of association though: they may still say a seal shall be used for particular instruments, and those provisions bind the company regardless of what the general law permits.
What is the difference between a common seal and a company stamp?
The common seal is the formal instrument, historically embossed into the paper to execute a deed. A company stamp is the everyday inked mark showing which company issued a document. The first is a legal formality; the second is evidence.
Why would a UK company still want one?
Mostly because somebody else asks. Overseas counterparties in jurisdictions where seals are expected will often not accept a contract without one, and share certificates traditionally carry one.
This describes common commercial practice rather than giving legal advice, and practice changes. Where a specific document matters, check the requirement with the body receiving it.
Other countries
- Company stamp maker for India
- Company stamp maker for the UAE
- Corporate seal maker for the United States
- Company chop maker for China
- Firmenstempel maker for German companies
- Company stamp maker for Dubai
- Company stamp maker for Saudi Arabia
- Company seal maker for Singapore
- Company stamp maker for South Africa
- Company seal maker for Nigeria
- Company seal maker for Australia
- Corporate seal maker for Canada
- Company seal maker for Japan
- Company seal maker for Ireland
- Company stamp maker for France
- Company stamp maker for the Netherlands
- Company stamp maker for Poland
- Company stamp maker for Finland
- Company stamp maker for Spain
- Company stamp maker for Italy
- Company stamp maker for Indonesia
- Company stamp maker for Malaysia
- Company seal maker for the Philippines
- Company seal maker for Thailand
- Company seal maker for Vietnam
- Company seal maker for South Korea
- Company chop maker for Hong Kong
- Company stamp maker for Brazil
- Company stamp maker for Mexico
- Company stamp maker for Turkey
- Company stamp maker for Switzerland
- Company stamp maker for Sweden
- Company seal maker for New Zealand
- Company stamp maker for Portugal
- Company stamp maker for Chile
- Company stamp maker for Morocco
- Company stamp maker for Tunisia
- Company stamp maker for Kenya
- What a company seal is, and where it is required