What is share capital?

The share capital of a company is determined by how many shares the company can grant options over and the constituent value of the shares for example:

ABC LIMITED has a share capital of £1000 made up of 1000 shares with a nominal value of £1.00 each.

Later in the application you will issue a certain number of these shares to your company's shareholders, you may have one shareholder or several depending on how you would like to divide up ownership and voting rights of the company.

If my company has a share capital of £1000 does this mean I have to pay £1000 into my company accounts?

No. When the shares are allotted to the company's shareholders then you can decide whether you wish the shareholders to physically pay the value of their shares into the company account, otherwise the shares can be treated as ‘paid up' and no money will change hands.

Is there a limit to how many shares I can create and the value of these shares?

You can assign as few or as many shares as you prefer with the nominal value being anything from one penny to £1000 or more. The important thing to remember is how these shares are issued and in what proportion, also you may assign 1000 shares and only issue 100 leaving 900 to grant options over in the future.