For directors of UK limited companies
Every company deserves a good ending.
Closing a limited company is a dozen jobs pretending to be one. WindDown finds your route, prepares every document, and tracks every deadline — so you can move on, properly.
The honest list
“Just strike it off” — and the eleven jobs hiding underneath.
Miss the sequence and it bites: HMRC objects, the strike-off stalls, or the company dissolves with money still in the bank — which becomes the Crown’s money. We put the jobs in order and keep you on time.
Read the full guide →How it works
Three steps. No drama. No £40-an-email surprises.
step 1001
Check your route
Two minutes, free, no email wall. Strike-off, MVL, CVL or dormancy — with the tax comparison in pounds, including the £25,000 cliff and Business Asset Disposal Relief.
step 1002
Get your plan
A sequenced close-out plan built for your company: board minutes, shareholder notices, the statutory 7-day letters, HMRC cessation letters, asset-distribution resolution — drafted and ready to sign.
step 1003
File, track, done
You file each step with our walkthroughs (you stay in control; we never touch your Government Gateway). We watch the Gazette until the company is formally dissolved. Dissolved
Know your route
There are three ways out. Price depends on which one is yours.
Solvent · under £25k
Voluntary strike-off
The clean, cheap exit for companies that can pay their way and have less than £25,000 left to distribute.
£199 guided, launch price (£299 after)
Solvent · over £25k
Members’ Voluntary Liquidation
Above the cliff, an MVL keeps distributions as capital — 18% with BADR instead of income tax up to 39.35%. Run by a licensed IP.
from £1,495 + disbursements, via our IP partner
Insolvent
Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation
If the company can’t pay its debts, strike-off is the wrong tool. We’ll say so plainly and introduce a regulated practitioner.
referral typical market cost £4k–£9k
Not sure which is you? That’s the point of the free route check. It’s the same logic we’d apply on a call, without the call.
Things we won’t tell you
The fine print, in large print.
- “Closed in two weeks.” No. The Gazette objection window alone is two months. Strike-off takes about three months; we just make sure it only takes three months once.
- “We’ll handle HMRC for you.” At launch, you file — we prepare everything and walk you through each screen. It keeps you in control and keeps your costs at £199 instead of £2,000.
- “Debts? Strike it off anyway.” Firms sell this. Creditors object, applications stall, and directors can now be disqualified after dissolution. If you’re insolvent we’ll route you to a licensed practitioner, full stop.
Asked, answered
Sensible questions
How long does it actually take?+
A voluntary strike-off takes roughly 3 months from filing: Companies House publishes a Gazette notice, holds a 2-month objection window, then dissolves the company. Anyone promising 'weeks' is selling you the form, not the outcome. An MVL typically runs 3–6 months, gated by HMRC clearance — though an early distribution often lands much sooner.
Can't I just do this myself for £13?+
You can, and our free route check will tell you if that's genuinely all you need. The £13 buys the Companies House filing — not the close-out around it: final accounts, final CT600, VAT deregistration, PAYE closure, the 7-day statutory notices, and emptying the company before dissolution so the Crown doesn't keep what's left. That sequencing is what we sell, for £199.
What if my company has more than £25,000 to distribute?+
Then a strike-off is usually a tax mistake. Above £25,000, the whole distribution is taxed as income rather than capital. A Members' Voluntary Liquidation preserves capital treatment — with Business Asset Disposal Relief that's 18% instead of dividend rates up to 39.35%. Our check shows you the comparison in pounds.
What if my company has debts it can't pay?+
Strike-off is the wrong route — creditors are notified, they object, and directors of dissolved companies can now be investigated retrospectively. You need a Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation run by a licensed insolvency practitioner. We'll tell you that honestly and can introduce you to a regulated partner.
Are you accountants? Lawyers? Liquidators?+
None of the three, and we're upfront about it. WindDown is software with judgment: guidance, document preparation and deadline tracking for the parts of closing a company that don't require a regulated professional — and honest referrals to licensed partners for the parts that do.
I have investors — SEIS, EIS, ASAs. Does that change things?+
Significantly. Done carelessly, a wind-down can cost your investors their SEIS/EIS loss relief — for instance by dissolving before unconverted ASAs are dealt with. Our startup service handles ASA conversion, loss-relief paperwork and investor communications. Join the waitlist.
Find out exactly how your company should close.
Free, two minutes, no email required. You’ll get a straight answer — even when the straight answer is “you don’t need us”.
Start the route check