UK limited companies can increase share capital at any time during the life of the company. The company needs to administer the company secretarial work and complete all the compliance work within the time allowed by Companies House.

Before submission to Companies House, information needs to have the date or dates when allotting new shares and the details of the share allotment.

Form SH01 is used to inform Companies House that the share capital of a company has been increased. This form can be filed in paper version Form SH01 or online using Companies House web filing service. The online version is comparatively easier of the two options. The new shares issued should be submitted to Companies House within one month.

Under The Companies Act 2006 there is no longer requires authorised share capital. Companies now only have issued capital.  Stamp Duty does not apply to issues of new shares.

1. Preparation for Increasing Share Capital
   
   UK limited companies can increase share capital at any time during the life of the company.  The company should go through the following procedures:
   
   

   (1)	Gather below information: (a) allotting date or dates; (b) currency; (c) class of share; (d) the number of shares; and (e) share value.
   (2)	Review the company’s articles and make sure the directors can allot new shares.
   (3)	It is recommended that all shares were paid up at the time of allotment or as soon as possible.
   (4)	The issued shares are expected to be fully registered and paid up as part of the investors’ due diligence check.
   (5)	Power should be given to existing shareholders a right to be offered the new shares when there are no pre-emption rights in the Articles or in a shareholders’ agreement.
   (6)	If partial, no payment, and/or deferment of shares issue is not allowed in company’s articles, then the shareholders have to pass a resolution to allot new shares in a general meeting or by a written resolution, and modified the articles.
   (7)	Make an offer of shares to the prospective shareholders.
   (8)	Hold a meeting or pass a written resolution to issue the shares.
   (9)	Make sure new shares paid or unpaid were correctly recorded.
   (10)	Update the register of members and issue share certificates.
   (11)	Record the shares issue actions in company minutes.
   (12)	Complete Form SH01 and submit the form with Companies House within a month.
   (13)	The new allotments and individual shareholders will be in the next annual Confirmation Statement.

   
   
2. Completing the Form SH01
   
   The SH01 alerts Companies House that company’s share capital has increased.  The changes can be filed online or by postal application with Companies House within one month. Below are two main sections on the form:
   
   

   (1)	Shares allotted This section only needs to include the total amount of new shares allotted per currency and type of share class. There is no need to mention the allocation per shareholder.
   (2)	Statement of Capital This section shows the new total shareholdings for the company.  This statement includes the prescribed particulars of rights attached to shares for each class shown in the share capital. This may be voting rights, dividend rights, participation, and whether the shares are to be redeemed or are liable to be redeemed at the option of the company of the shareholder etc.

See also：UK Company Capital Increase Procedures and Fees