The UK, for all its faults, is one of the easiest and cheapest places in the world to incorporate, and all the other formalities combined are trivially trivial. The only qualm I have about incorporating in the UK revolves around how much personal data Companies House sells that subsequently gets splashed across the internet for all to see, free of charge. It's better than it used to be (directors' and secretaries' home addresses are now finally protected under the 2006 Act) but it's still a little too much unnecessary data that's made public.
Have a look at Companies House's website[1]. All their guidance is listed there, and they're very responsive both by phone and email.
HMRC are also super helpful and have very comprehensive documentation on their website relating to personal and corporation tax.
If I really wanted, for a few pounds I could buy copies of your filings from Companies House! [1] [2]
Search your own name and you'll see a lot of information show up about you and the two British companies you've been involved in.
[1] http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/d9905cee41fe8bc6bc1e30b72c...
[2] http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/daf03799bf17832767f99543e5...
New York State has it right:
How can I find the names of officers and directors of a corporation or other business entity?
The Department of State does not require or maintain information regarding the names and addresses of officers or directors of corporations, the members or managers of a limited liability company, the limited partners of a limited partnership or the partners in a limited liability partnership. These records are internal records maintained by the corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership or limited liability partnership.
If you start a business, you're not just a private person - you are the Director of a "legal person" who could be up to all sorts of stuff, including many bad things. You are entrusted with limited liability, lower taxes, and all sorts of other goodies, but there is a tradeoff.
The net effect of increased transparency is that it's much easier to tell when a business is dodgy. For example, Duedil allows me, when doing the due diligence on a possible client or supplier, to check the trading history of the owner. If, for example, I can see that the Director of that business has previously run 10 different businesses with similar names over the last 10 years, that might save me from a very, very costly mistake.
Transparency in the business world promotes trust. Trust is fundamentally necessary for a healthy business environment.
Even if I had no products, the company would still be useful.