Register of Members Template (UK)

Your register of members is the document that decides who legally owns your company. Not the share certificates, not Companies House — the register. Since November 2025 it is also the only one of the statutory registers a UK company still keeps itself, which makes getting the format right more important than it used to be. (Separate record-keeping duties survive alongside it — minutes of resolutions, and copies of any charge instruments — but they are records rather than registers.)

Here is a template that carries everything the Companies Act 2006 requires, and the rules for keeping it that the template alone can't show you.

The Template

One row per shareholding. If a member holds two classes, they get two rows.

Member name	Address	Date registered as a member	Date ceased to be a member	Number of shares	Class	Share numbers	Amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid
Jane Okafor	14 Bridge Street, Leeds LS1 4AA	2024-03-12	—	60	Ordinary	1–60	£60 (paid in full)
Tom Okafor	14 Bridge Street, Leeds LS1 4AA	2026-10-02	—	40	Ordinary	61–100	£40 (paid in full)
A. Previous	8 Mill Lane, Leeds LS2 7BQ	2021-06-01	2024-03-12	60	Ordinary	1–60	£60 (paid in full)

Note the third row. Former members stay in the register — see the ten-year rule below.

What Each Column Is Doing

Section 113(1) states the duty plainly: "Every company must keep a register of its members."

Names, addresses and dates. Section 113(2) requires that there be entered in the register "(a) the names and addresses of the members, (b) the date on which each person was registered as a member, and (c) the date at which any person ceased to be a member." (s.113(2) as it stands until the ECCTA substitution below commences — the live section page shows both versions, the current one first, so this links to the point-in-time version to make clear which one is currently in force.)

Two details people miss. The date registered is the date of entry in the register, not the date on the stock transfer form or the board minute. And the ceased date is a required field — leaving a departed shareholder undated is a defect, not tidiness.

Shares, class and numbers. Section 113(3) requires, for a company with share capital, a statement of "(a) the shares held by each member, distinguishing each share— (i) by its number (so long as the share has a number), and (ii) where the company has more than one class of issued shares, by its class, and (b) the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid on the shares of each member."

The class column is only strictly required where there is more than one class — but fill it in anyway. It costs nothing and it saves you rebuilding history if you ever add a class. If you do have more than one, share classes for small companies covers what each needs to carry.

Amount paid. Note the statutory wording is "paid or agreed to be considered as paid". Shares issued for something other than cash — for services, or on a share-for-share exchange — are recorded at the amount agreed to be considered as paid, not at nil.

Joint holders. Section 113(5): where shares are jointly held, the register "must state the names of each joint holder", and in other respects joint holders are treated as a single member.

What Changed in November 2025 — and What Didn't

Section 51 of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 "contains amendments to abolish requirements imposed on a company to keep its own— (a) register of directors; (b) register of directors' residential addresses; (c) register of secretaries; (d) register of people with significant control". That came into force on 18 November 2025 by S.I. 2025/1118.

The register of members was not in that list. It survives, and it is now the only one you keep locally. The background is in our guide to the register of members after ECCTA, and the PSC side is covered in the PSC register after ECCTA.

A change that has not happened yet. ECCTA also rewrites section 113(2) so that the register records "the required information" — a name and a service address — instead of names and addresses. That rewrite is not in force. On legislation.gov.uk the substitution is annotated as in force "only so far as it confers a power to make regulations or relates to the exercise of the power, otherwise prosp." — prospective. Until it is commenced, the current wording above is the law, and a template built around a service address column is ahead of the legislation rather than compliant with it. Worth knowing if you are reading guidance that has jumped the gun.

Where to Keep It

Section 114(1) requires the register to be kept available for inspection "(a) at its registered office, or (b) at a place specified in regulations under section 1136."

If you keep it anywhere other than the registered office you must tell Companies House, under section 114(2), and there is a 14-day default provision behind it. Keep it at the registered office and no notice is needed at all — section 114(3).

A spreadsheet is fine. The Act prescribes contents, not a medium.

If you used to keep it at Companies House, that option is gone. Until 26 January 2026 a company could elect to keep its members' information on the central register instead of locally. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 7) Regulations 2026 removed that option: "Section 49 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (register of members: removal of option to use central register) come into force on 26th January 2026." A company that had elected central keeping now needs to build and hold a full local register at its registered office or SAIL address — exactly the template above.

The Index Rule Most Small Companies Can Ignore

Section 115(1) requires an index of members' names — but only for a company with "more than 50 members… unless the register of members is in such a form as to constitute in itself an index." If you cross that threshold, section 115(2) requires the index to be updated "within 14 days after the date on which any alteration is made in the register of members."

Most owner-managed companies never reach 50 members, and an alphabetically sorted register is its own index in any case.

Who Can Ask to See It — and the Five-Day Clock

This is the part a template can't tell you, and the part that catches people out.

Section 116(1) opens the register to inspection "(a) of any member of the company without charge, and (b) of any other person on payment of such fee as may be prescribed" — and under 116(2) any person may require a copy on payment of the prescribed fee. That includes people with no connection to your company.

There are two protections.

The request must justify itself. Section 116(4) requires the request to state the requester's name and address, "the purpose for which the information is to be used", and whether it will be disclosed onward and to whom.

You have five working days, and a proper-purpose test. Section 117(1): on receiving a request the company must within "five working days either— (a) comply with the request, or (b) apply to the court." If the court is satisfied the inspection "is not sought for a proper purpose" it directs the company not to comply, and may order the requester to pay the company's costs.

So an improper request can be refused — but only through the court, and only inside five working days. Simply ignoring it is not one of the two options the section gives you.

The Ten-Year Rule

Do not delete people. Section 121 permits removal only after a long wait: "an entry relating to a former member of the company may be removed from the register after the expiration of ten years from the date on which he ceased to be a member."

"May", not "must" — there is no obligation to remove anything. The practical approach for a small company is to keep the full history and never prune it. The register's value is that it shows the chain of ownership.

When to Update It

Update on the event, not at year end:

New shares issued — enter the member when the allotment is registered. See allotting shares and filing the SH01.
Shares transferred — enter the transferee, date the transferor's cessation if they sold their whole holding. See the stock transfer form and, for the common family case, transferring shares to a spouse.
Shares bought back or cancelled — record the cessation.
A member's name or address changes — amend the entry.

The confirmation statement is a check against the register, not the moment to write it.

Common Mistakes

Treating the certificate as the record. Certificates are evidence of title; the register confers it.

Lumping share classes together. Section 113(3)(a)(ii) requires each share to be distinguished by class where there is more than one.

Deleting departed shareholders. They stay for at least ten years (s.121), with their cessation date.

Recording "nil paid" for shares issued for non-cash consideration. The wording is "paid or agreed to be considered as paid".

Ignoring an inspection request. Five working days to comply or apply to the court (s.117(1)).

Building the template around a service address. That change is not yet in force.

Key Takeaways

Required columns: name, address, date registered, date ceased, shares held (by number and class), and amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid (s.113).
The register of members survived the November 2025 abolition of the other local registers (ECCTA s.51) — it is now the only one you keep.
The ECCTA rewrite to name-plus-service-address is prospective and not yet in force.
Keep it at the registered office and you need file no notice (s.114(3)).
An index is only required above 50 members (s.115(1)).
Any person may request inspection or a copy; you have five working days to comply or apply to the court (s.116, s.117(1)).
Former members may be removed only after ten years, and there is no need to remove them at all (s.121).

How CompanyMinder Helps

CompanyMinder keeps the register of members as the output of the share events you record rather than a spreadsheet you maintain alongside them — allot or transfer shares and the entries, dates and paid amounts follow, with the previous holdings retained rather than overwritten. Because the register is derived from the events, the confirmation statement check becomes a comparison rather than a reconstruction.

A Note on Scope

This is general guidance for private companies limited by shares, based on the published Companies Act 2006 and the commencement position at the date of this article. Companies with treasury shares, shares held on trust, converted stock, or overseas members may need entries beyond the template above, and the protected-material regime under section 120A can restrict what is made available for inspection. Take advice from a solicitor or accountant where your situation is not the straightforward one. It is not legal advice.