Model articles of association for limited companies
Types of model articles of association a limited company can have, including older versions of Table A from previous company legislation.
All limited companies must have articles of association. These set the rules company officers must follow when running their companies.
鈥淢odel鈥� 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
Older model articles
For companies incorporated before 28 April 2013:
Amendments to model articles
The model articles were amended by the on 28 April 2013 to remove the provision for terminating a director鈥檚 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鈥檛 have to remove the provision if it鈥檚 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鈥檛 need to file articles if it used 鈥楾able A鈥� as its articles. If you want to see the regulations that govern the management of the company, you鈥檒l need to refer to the relevant 鈥楾able A鈥� - the version which was in force at the date of the company鈥檚 incorporation.
Later versions of 鈥楾able A鈥� don鈥檛 affect a company registered before the new versions took effect.
The first prescribed format, made in The Joint Stock Companies Act, 1856, were called 鈥楾able B鈥�, because they were preceded by a form of Memorandum of Association called 鈥楩orm A鈥�.
The articles were first called 鈥楾able A鈥� in The Companies Act 1862 and the naming convention continued for the acts which followed.
List of Table A
The following are versions of 鈥楾able A鈥� prescribed by:
- - effective from 14 July 1856
- - effective from 7 August 1862
- - effective from 1 October 1906
- - effective from 1 April 1909
- - effective from 1 November 1929
- - effective from 1 July 1948
- - effective from 27 January 1968
- - effective from 18 April 1977, 1 June 1977 and 1 October 1977
- - effective from 2 February 1979
- - effective from 22 December 1980
- - effective from 3 December 1981
- - effective from 1 July 1985
- - effective from 1 August 1985
- - effective from 22 December 2000
- - effective from 1 October 2007
- - effective from 1 October 2007
Disclaimer
The 鈥楾able A鈥� 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 .
Updates to this page
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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.