GOV.UK
Guidance
Community interest companies: forms and step-by-step guides
The processes you need to follow, and the documents you need to submit, when you are a community interest company or you wish to form (or convert to) a community interest company.
Document
Detail
A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a limited company, with special additional features, created for the use of people who want to conduct a business or other activity for community benefit, and not purely for private advantage.
This step-by-step guidance explains what you need to do to:
- form a CIC
- form a community interest public limited company (plc)
- convert an existing company to a CIC
- convert a charitable company to a CIC
- convert an industrial and provident society (IPS) to a CIC
- convert a private company to a community interest plc
- convert a plc to a community interest plc
- change or specifying an asset-locked body in the articles of association
- alter clauses in the articles of association
- alter the object statement of a CIC
- change the status of a CIC to a community interest plc
- convert a CIC to a charitable company
- convert a CIC to an IPS
- arrange the voluntary dissolution of a CIC
- file an annual CIC report and accounts
It includes links to the appropriate forms, model constitutions (including the memorandum of association and articles of association) and model special resolutions.