There are certain pieces of information that you must include on your company’s website, including your company name, company number, VAT number, and registered office address. The requirement to display certain information on your company’s website is set out in a number of applicable areas of law, including company law, privacy law, the Electronic Commerce Regulations, the Consumer Contracts Regulations, and the Consumer Rights Act.
By placing the required information on your website, you can ensure that you remain compliant with the law and avoid any penalties for non-compliance. In this article, we will explain everything that you need to know about what information you should include on your website.
What company information am I legally required to put on our website?
By law, you must place on your website the following information:
- Full registered company name with the addition of ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’ to denote that the company is limited
- Trading name
- Companies House registration number
- Registered office address
- Where the company is registered (i.e. England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland)
- Email address
- How the company can be contacted by non-electronic means (e.g., phone number or business address)
- VAT number, and
- Confirmation of registration with trade bodies, professional associations, or regulators
Making this information easily available promotes transparency and builds trust with your website visitors. It also makes it easy for people to contact your business.
What information is optional?
There is no legal requirement to include the names of all company directors on your company website. Do bear in mind, however, that if you do choose to include the names of your directors, you must include all of them.
It is also optional to show your company’s share capital on your website (i.e. how much the shares were worth when they were issued). If you do choose to include share capital information, Companies House requires that you include how much of the shareholding is ‘paid up’ (i.e. it is owned by shareholders).
Where do we show the required company information on our website?
Company law does not stipulate where to place the required information on your website. While it does not need to be displayed on every page, it must be easy to locate and read. ‘Burying’ the information that you are required to publish on a webpage or in your terms and conditions will not satisfy the legal requirements outlined above.
Company information is normally placed on the “footer”, “contact us”, or “about us” page.
Privacy law requirements
UK data protection law requires that businesses that collect data on their users or use cookies must have a cookie policy that can be easily found and viewed by users of the website. A computer “cookie” is a small file located on a client device (e.g. PC or mobile phone) which contains information about the user’s browsing activity and login behaviour. If you use cookies on your website, according to data privacy law, you must:
- Tell people the cookies are there;
- Explain what the cookies are doing and why, and
- Get the person’s consent to store a cookie on their device.
It is only necessary to inform and gain consent for the cookie the first time it is created; there is no requirement to repeat the process when the same person visits your website again in the future.
You must also display a privacy notice on your website if you collect and process personal data. The privacy notice should explain to your users:
- Why you need the information you are collecting
- How long you will keep the data before it is securely removed
- What you are doing with the data you are collecting
- The lawful basis for collecting the data
- Your legitimate interests in the data
- Who you will share the information with, if applicable
- The details of your data controller and data protection officer, and
- Your privacy complaints process
The UK Electronic Commerce Regulations
Under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, businesses selling goods or services online must provide the following to users before orders are placed by electronic means “in a clear, comprehensible and unambiguous manner”:
- The different technical steps to follow to conclude the contract;
- Whether or not the concluded contract will be filed by the service provider and whether it will be accessible;
- The technical means for identifying and correcting input errors prior to the placing of the order, and
- The languages offered for the conclusion of the contract.
Once an order has been placed on your website, your customer must be provided with an “appropriate, effective and accessible technical means” to enable them to spot and correct mistakes before the order is finalised. A receipt confirming the order must also be provided without undue delay by electronic means.
Consumer Contracts Regulations
To comply with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, certain information must be provided if contracts are concluded through your website (e.g. entering into a new contract for insurance). This states that before an order is placed, users must be given in a “clear, comprehensible and unambiguous manner” the following:
- The different technical steps to follow to conclude the contract;
- Whether or not the concluded contract will be filed by the service provider and whether it will be accessible;
- The technical means for identifying and correcting input errors prior to the placing of the order; and
- The languages offered for the conclusion of the contract.
Users should also have the payment and delivery options, taxes and delivery costs, method of delivery, their rights to cancellation/refund, and your returns policy. The regulations also require that once the contract is concluded, the user should receive a confirmation of the contract, including the terms and conditions, before the goods are delivered and a copy of the contract.
Consumer Rights Act 2015
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to all business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and is designed to protect customers from receiving faulty, misrepresented, or substandard products. When it comes to your website, in order to comply with the Act, you must:
- Accurately describe products or services, especially when advertising or selling online
- Ensure all goods are of satisfactory quality and fit for their intended purpose
- Deliver products within 30 days of the customer placing an order unless a different timeframe has been agreed, and
- Take appropriate action if something goes wrong. The customer may be entitled to a remedy—this could be a full refund, a replacement, or a repair, depending on the situation and how long ago the purchase was made.
Complying with the Consumer Rights Act is not just about adhering to the law; it will help you to establish and build trust with your customers and reduce the risk of legal disputes occurring, which can be time-consuming and cause reputational harm.
Equality Act 2010
Another key consideration when deciding on the information to show on your website is the Equality Act 2010. To comply with the Equality Act 2010, it is essential to ensure that your website in no way discriminates against users with disabilities. This means that the information you provide must be accessible to those with a range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. To achieve this, we recommend adhering to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (known as WCAG) by ensuring that the information you provide is:
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1. Perceivable |
Users must be able to see or hear the information |
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2. Adaptable |
Make sure content can be presented in different ways without losing meaning |
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3. Distinguishable |
You must make it easy to see and hear the content |
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4. Operable |
Users must be able to interact with the interface |
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5. Keyboard accessible |
Ensure all functionality is available using a keyboard alone (i.e. so that no mouse is needed). |
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6. Easily navigable |
It should be easy to locate the information required on the site |
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7. Understandable |
Users must be able to understand the information you have provided |
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8. Readable |
Always use clear, straightforward language |
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9. Predictable |
Ensure your website behaves in a consistent way (e.g., links and buttons do what users expect). |
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10. Robust and compatible |
The content you provide should work reliably with assistive technologies |
Summary
- By law, your website must contain a minimum set of information, including your full registered company name, trading name, Companies House registration number, VAT number and registered office address
- You don’t need to put this information on all pages, but it must be easy to find and read
- You must ensure that you comply with the UK’s privacy law, including in relation to the use of cookies on client devices
- There are a range of other laws that may apply depending on your type of business, including the UK Electronic Commerce Regulations and the Consumer Rights Act.
- Always consider how you display information on your website for those with visual, auditory, and other impairments and disabilities to ensure it complies with the Equality Act 2010.
Final words
There is much more to creating a website than coming up with a design and uploading your copy. The information requirements that you must adhere to will depend on your type of business, the jurisdictions in which you operate, the extent to which you collect and process data, and the functionality of your website, among many other factors. If you are unsure about what to include, we recommend seeking legal advice to ensure that you can cover all bases. You can then be confident that your website complies with the regulations and that you are never at risk of a penalty or fine for a breach of the law.