All limited companies must have articles of association. These set the rules company officers must follow when running their companies.
“Model” articles of association are the standard default articles a company can use. They are prescribed by the Companies Act 2006.
Examples of model articles
Following amendments made to the model articles since their introduction, different versions are available for each of the 3 limited company types.
Latest model articles
For companies incorporated on or after 28 April 2013:
- Model articles for private companies limited by shares
- Model articles for private companies limited by guarantee
- model articles for public companies (MS Word Document, 173 KB)
Older model articles
For companies incorporated before 28 April 2013:
- model articles for private companies limited by shares (MS Word Document, 88 KB)
- model articles for private companies limited by guarantee (MS Word Document, 71 KB)
- model articles for public companies (MS Word Document, 143 KB)
Amendments to model articles
The model articles were amended by the Mental Health (Discrimination) Act 2013 on 28 April 2013 to remove the provision for terminating a director’s appointment on grounds of mental health. This provision could be found in:
- paragraph 18(e) of the model articles for private companies limited by shares or by guarantee
- paragraph 22(e) of the model articles for public companies
You don’t have to remove the provision if it’s in your articles, but you can do so by amending your articles or by adopting the newer model articles.
Which versions apply
The latest model articles apply by default to all private and public limited companies incorporated on or after 28 April 2013.
The older model articles continue to apply by default to all companies incorporated between 1 October 2009 and 27 April 2013 (inclusive).
Table A
Table A is the name given to the prescribed format for articles of association of a company limited by shares under the Companies Act 1985 and earlier legislation.
When a company limited by shares was incorporated, it didn’t need to file articles if it used ‘Table A’ as its articles. If you want to see the regulations that govern the management of the company, you’ll need to refer to the relevant ‘Table A’ - the version which was in force at the date of the company’s incorporation.
Later versions of ‘Table A’ don’t affect a company registered before the new versions took effect.
The first prescribed format, made in The Joint Stock Companies Act, 1856, were called ‘Table B’, because they were preceded by a form of Memorandum of Association called ‘Form A’.
The articles were first called ‘Table A’ in The Companies Act 1862 and the naming convention continued for the acts which followed.
List of Table A
The following are versions of ‘Table A’ prescribed by:
- Joint Stock Companies Act 1856 (Table B) (PDF, 58.1 KB, 10 pages) - effective from 14 July 1856
- Companies Act 1862 (PDF, 326 KB, 11 pages) - effective from 7 August 1862
- Board of Trade Order 1906 (PDF, 396 KB, 15 pages) - effective from 1 October 1906
- Companies Consolidation Act 1908 (PDF, 334 KB, 15 pages) - effective from 1 April 1909
- Companies Act 1929 (PDF, 454 KB, 14 pages) - effective from 1 November 1929
- Companies Act 1948 (PDF, 606 KB, 22 pages) - effective from 1 July 1948
- as amended by Companies Act 1967 (PDF, 109 KB, 22 pages) - effective from 27 January 1968
- as amended by Companies Act 1976 (3 commencement dates) (PDF, 605 KB, 22 pages) - effective from 18 April 1977, 1 June 1977 and 1 October 1977
- as amended by the Stock Exchange (Completion of Bargains) Act 1976 (PDF, 110 KB, 22 pages) - effective from 2 February 1979
- as amended by Companies Act 1980 (PDF, 107 KB, 22 pages) - effective from 22 December 1980
- as amended by Companies Act 1981 (PDF, 106 KB, 21 pages) - effective from 3 December 1981
- Companies (Tables A to F) Regulations 1985 (PDF, 556 KB, 20 pages) - effective from 1 July 1985
- as amended by Companies (Tables A to F) (Amendment) Regulations 1985 (PDF, 125 KB, 20 pages) - effective from 1 August 1985
- as amended by Companies Act 1985 (Electronic Communications) Order 2000 (PDF, 111 KB, 21 pages) - effective from 22 December 2000
- as amended by Companies (Tables A to F) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 and The Companies (Tables A to F) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 for private companies limited by shares (PDF, 97 KB, 18 pages) - effective from 1 October 2007
- as amended by Companies (Tables A to F) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 and The Companies (Tables A to F) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 for public companies limited by shares (PDF, 99.2 KB, 18 pages) - effective from 1 October 2007
Disclaimer
The ‘Table A’ documents provided above have been reproduced from the original published Acts, Order or Instruments listed above and are correct to the best of our knowledge. Companies House accepts no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Reliance should be placed solely on the relevant legislation as published by Office of Public Sector Information.
Published 21 November 2014
Last updated 10 October 2017 +show all updates
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Model articles for private companies limited by shares replaced by HTML version.
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Welsh translation added
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Updated with information and access to Table A.
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First published.