Pictured above: Yiasmin Freestone

A Shropshire business is celebrating two years in operation, successfully helping more than 150 companies to set up since it launched.

Company Select (UK) Limited was created by entrepreneur Yiasmin Freestone, a dynamic and experienced businesswoman with a pedigree working alongside clients ranging from blue chip corporations to household names.

Telford-based Company Select (UK) assists new businesses in becoming companies, a one-stop-shop providing advice and the necessary services to create a new company, something Yiasmin can do within three to five hours.

Yiasmin, who has previously worked within the Fiat Group and provided technical support for manufacturers including Jaguar, Ford and Vauxhall Motors, said: "Company Select would not have become a reality if I had not been made redundant from my previous employment and faced the challenge this had presented me  with.

"Within ten days of being made redundant, I responded positively to the situation. I created my own company and I was up and running.

"Our services are designed to solve problems. Products range from a simple e-formation for new companies through to the fully supported design pack. Incorporation documents are processed the same day, upon receipt of order and are posted 1st class, usually within 24 hours with an electronic version of the Certificate of Incorporation, Memorandum & Articles of Association with Subscriber Share Holders Details, and your Authentication Code provided upon incorporation.

"Company Select (UK) Limited, has developed and expanded, we now have offices in Halesfield, and continues to do so on a daily basis. It has grown from strength to strength and has now incorporated over 150 companies."

And Yiasmin has this advice for entrepreneurs planning to go-it-alone in the same way she did two years ago.

"In the majority of cases, it will be preferable to run your business as a limited company. Some of the benefits of doing so include limited liability - if your business fails, your house and other assets are not at risk, unless you have guaranteed any debts personally.

"There are also taxation savings. Over the last few years, legislation has changed almost yearly. For some of that period, the first £10,000 of a limited company's profits were tax free. 

"Although this provision is not currently in force, since April 2008, the Small Companies Corporation Tax Rate presently stands at 21 per cent. A self employed person will pay a basic rate of Income Tax of 20 per cent, plus eight per cent Class 4 National Insurance. This, obviously represents a saving of seven per cent on every penny earned for a limited company.

"There is a also an image benefit - the perception held by most people is that limited companies are larger entities, and this automatically gives increased credibility.

"I'd be delighted to speak to anyone considering leaving employment to set up a business, anyone currently in the process of redundancy or sole-traders who are considering whether a limited company is the way forward for their business."