It is worth reading up on what proof of funds are permited for ops licence appliction.
I went limited for the reasons Harry highlighted so all the dosh has to be in company accounts. A mate went sole trader and the application seems to be a bit more flexible.
Harry Monk:
I set up a limited company online, took about 10 minutes and cost £16.99.
Hiya Harry, how did you set up a limited company doing that? I had to fill out an 18 page application from the Companies House website. Not posted it yet so your way could be easier.
Matt.
me too, just got one of the online companys to do it for you, filled in a few details and got the co registration etc through 2 days later, 18 pages ffs 
i,m not recommending this company, just pointing you in the direction of what you are looking for
bazstan009:
It is worth reading up on what proof of funds are permited for ops licence appliction.
I went limited for the reasons Harry highlighted so all the dosh has to be in company accounts. A mate went sole trader and the application seems to be a bit more flexible.
Personally I think the funds thing is all a bit strange. Officially it’s to ensure you can adequately finance maintenance to keep the vehicle roadworthy but in a way it seems to encourage the opposite to that.
For example, it’s perfectly ok with them to buy some old wreck and then be left over with enough money to adequately cover the financial requirements of the o-licence being granted. So if road-safety is the priority surely it would be better that the money’s used buying the newest vehicle possible.
It all seems a bit mad also as the things that are safety critical like brake chambers and tyres aren’t a huge cost to put right usually but they want £££ks sat in a bank account. Something that’s going to cost that much to put right is going to be something like a massive engine or gearbox failure which would mean no real road safety issue as the truck would be going nowhere anyway.
Own Account Driver:
Personally I think the funds thing is all a bit strange. Officially it’s to ensure you can adequately finance maintenance to keep the vehicle roadworthy but in a way it seems to encourage the opposite to that.For example, it’s perfectly ok with them to buy some old wreck and then be left over with enough money to adequately cover the financial requirements of the o-licence being granted. So if road-safety is the priority surely it would be better that the money’s used buying the newest vehicle possible.
It all seems a bit mad also as the things that are safety critical like brake chambers and tyres aren’t a huge cost to put right usually but they want £££ks sat in a bank account. Something that’s going to cost that much to put right is going to be something like a massive engine or gearbox failure which would mean no real road safety issue as the truck would be going nowhere anyway.
You have to realise that these rules are thought up by people who do not have any understanding of trucks. 
Harry Monk:
I set up a limited company online, took about 10 minutes and cost £16.99. I’m an employee of that company. It pays me so little that I fall beneath the PAYE and NI threshold, although it also pays me back the money I lent it periodically and that is tax-free.After it has paid that back, if I want to take money out of the company then I’ll take it as a dividend, not wages, tax is less on dividends than wages. My accountant deals with the finer points of it though as he has a much better grasp of it than I do.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to being limited company compared to sole trader, a limited company is taken more seriously by creditors, a sole trader doesn’t have to publish accounts publicly are just a couple of examples but you should check out what’s best for your personal circumstances
i hope you charge the company interest. i can’t remember the tax free threshhold on it, but it was about 5% 20 years ago.