Design

We are printers not designers and we don’t really like starting a brief with a blank piece of paper. However, as long as you have a logo designed there are really only so many ways that a letterhead can be laid out. Click on the link to see some of our suggested design layouts. If you have your logo and like one of these layouts let us know, along with the other information to be included, see below, and we can take it from there.

As long as the logo that you supply is in a printable format and of suitable quality, to set artwork for one of these standard designs should take us about 30 minutes. We charge designer time at £40.00 per hour and will add the time taken to your final invoice. Unfortunately if we spend time on design and you then decide not to progress to print we will still charge the design time.

When thinking about your company letterhead it is easy to solely concentrate on its design and the quality of paper it is printed on. However, your company letterhead must legally include certain bits of information as a minimum. If you fail to include these then hard work and vital cash will have been wasted.

Thankfully the requirements are simple. They also vary by the type of business run.

If you are a sole trader you can trade under your own name or you can choose a different business name. If you choose a business name that is not your own name, you must include your own name and the business address on all letterheads and order forms.

If you are a partnership business your letterheads, order forms, receipts and even invoices must include the names of all partners and the address of the main office. If there are many partners then it is also acceptable to state where a list of partners may be found.

If your company is trading as a limited company the letterhead and order form stationery (whether printed or electronic versions) must include:

• Your full registered company name
• The company registration number and place of registration
• The company registered address and the address of its place of business, if different
• There is no need to include the names of the directors on the letterhead for a limited company, but if you choose to name directorsall directors must be named

Most letterheads also include a telephone and fax number, a url for the business' website and an email address.

Certain businesses must also state the following on their business letters and order forms:

• For an investment company (as defined by section 266 of the Companies Act 1985) that it is such a company.
• For a company exempt from using the word 'limited' in its name, 
• that it is a limited company
• For a company with share capital, it is not necessary to state the share capital on stationery but if the company chooses to do so, 
• the paid-up share capital rather than the authorised capital must 
• be stated.
• Charitable companies whose name excludes the words 'charity' or 'charitable' must state the fact that it is a charity on its stationery.