Business site details

Service providers, whether involved in e-commerce or not, should provide the following minimum information, which must be easily, directly and permanently accessible:

• The name of the service provider must be given somewhere easily accessible on the site. This might differ from the trading name and any such difference should be explained – e.g. "XYZ.com is the trading name of XYZ Enterprises Limited."
• The email address of the service provider must be given. It is not sufficient to include a 'contact us' form without also providing an email address.
• The geographic address of the service provider must be given. A PO Box is unlikely to suffice as a geographic address; but a registered office address would. If the business is a company, the registered office address must be included in any event.
• If a company, the company's registration number should also be given.
• If a company, the place of registration should be stated (e.g. "XYZ Enterprises Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1234567") though this is a requirement of the Companies Act as from 31st December 2006, not the E-commerce Directive.
• If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including any registration number, should be provided.
• If the business has a VAT number, it should be stated – even if the website is not being used for e-commerce transactions.
• Prices on the website must be clear and unambiguous. Also, state whether prices are inclusive of tax and delivery costs.
• Finally, do not forget the Distance Selling Regulations which contain other information requirements for on-line businesses that sell to consumers (B2C, as opposed to B2B, sales). For details of these requirements, see our article, The Distance Selling Regulations - An Overview.

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TechFox said:

I thought you only had to deal with companies house if you were running a company.

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