What is a registered office
A registered office is the official address of a limited company or limited liability partnership (LLP). It is a legal requirement to have a registered address for your business and the address must be within the UK.
The registered office address is important as it's where any legal or official mail is sent to by the Government and clients.
Although the address has to be in the UK, it doesn't have to be in the same region as your principal trading activity, but it must be a complete, physical address in the same UK jurisdiction in which your company is registered. If you do not have a registered office address, you cannot open a UK company.
A registered office address can also be known as a virtual office address.
Why do you need a registered office address
A registered office address is legally required for any companies registered in the United Kingdom.
You are required to submit the company address to companies house so they're able to confirm that they are delivering documents to the correct address.
Having a visible physical location also enables greater transparency between companies and their potential customers. Anyone who is researching the company is quickly able to verify their existence through an official source.
Benefits of a registered office
There are three key benefits to using a registered office address service. These are; Reputation, Professionalism and Security.
Reputation
Having your registered office as a prestigious London address can help to increase your company's reputation in the eyes of potential clients. Whilst they don't have to visit this address, just having it visible on your website could see you grow your customer base and bring in new investors.
Professionalism
For a lot of smaller companies, the alternative to a service like ours is setting their home address as their registered office address. This can make the business seem unprofessional and smaller than they may want to appear. A registered office service helps to fix this by giving them a real business address.
Security
Another issue that comes with setting your home address as your registered office is security concerns. This means that your home address is visible to anyone who knows your business name and could be targeted for crime. A registered office address helps ease these security concerns by hiding your personal address from view.
London Registered Office Address Service
Our London registered office address service starts from just £100.00 per year.
We offer 4 registered office services in London across 2 different locations.
Our Wood Green office is perfect for those who want to show their company as being registered in London, without the price tag. Whereas our Prestigious London office is located in Canary Wharf, one of the world's main financial centres. This gives your company a higher profile by situating it on this well-known and greatly respected area which is recognised throughout the world.
In both of these locations you can choose between either receiving General Business Correspondence or All Post, depending on which service best suits your needs.
See below for the available services in London:
- London Wood Green (All Post) - £255.00
- London Wood Green (General Business Correspondence) - £110.00
- Prestigious London Address (All Post) - £275.00
- Prestigious London Address (General Business Correspondence) - £140.00
Learn more about the differences between our General Business Correspondence and All Post services.
Glasgow Registered Office Address Service
Our Glasgow registered office is perfect for Scottish companies who want to hide their home address or want to have their company recognised as being registered in a major city such as Glasgow.
Only Scottish companies can purchase a registered office in Glasgow as the registered office must be in the same country as the company.
In Glasgow, only our General Business Correspondence service is available, priced at £130.00.
Doncaster Registered Office Address Service
Being based in Doncaster, we can also offer a registered office here in the city we call home. This address is perfect for those who are in the North / Midlands of England and want to keep the registered office closer to home.
In Doncaster you can choose between either receiving General Business Correspondence or All Post, depending on which service best suits your needs.
See below for the available services in Doncaster:
Learn more about the differences between our General Business Correspondence and All Post services.
Does a registered office address have to be in the UK
Your registered office address must be in the same jurisdiction as your principal trading activity. This means that only Scottish companies can use our Glasgow registered office services and only English companies can use our London / Doncaster registered office services.
We offer a range of addresses in multiple locations so that we can help businesses up and down the UK protect their personal information and reduce the amount of time they spend sifting through post.
Can I use my home as a registered office address
Yes, you can use a residential address as your business address, although most company directors choose not to do this due to privacy concerns.
It's important to remember that you're not able to hide your registered office address and therefore you would be publicly displaying your home address.
It's for this reason that most directors choose to use a business address service.
Can I use my accountants as my registered office address
Using your accountants address as your registered office address is very common practice.
It's important to have their permission before taking this step, as it would mean all mail meant for your company is sent directly there. This will be useful for certain aspects, however, you will need to ensure a process is set up so that any relevant mail can be forwarded to you at the earliest convenience.
At CFS Formations, our registered office address service automatically includes forwarding General Business Correspondence to your preferred address, with the option of upgrading the service to include forwarding all letters.
This cost-effective option allows you to maintain your privacy whilst also giving you peace of mind that you'll receive all post in a timely manner.
Can I change my registered office address?
Changing addresses is part of business and as such you're able to change your registered office address at any time.
The rules and guidance around this are set out very clearly - You must notify companies house that you're moving and provide companies house with your new address within 14 days of the move taking place. This allows them to update the public record, maintains corporate transparency and ensures that they can deliver statutory mail directly to you with minimal interruption.
Who can see my registered office address?
A company's registered office address is visible to anyone who searches for the business on the companies house website.
This is where the issue of privacy arises for most company directors and why most choose to use a business address service to hide their residential address from the public register.
What about if my company is moving from overseas?
Companies that are moving from overseas are still required to have a registered office address, even if they're not a UK national.
A combination of a business address service and international mail forwarding allows you to continue receiving official government mail no matter where you're located in the world.
What is the difference between your General Business Correspondence and All Post services?
The difference between our two services is relatively simple and which is best for your business depends on what you need out of our service.
For the All Post service, we will send all letters to you (other than spam) that are received at the registered office. This includes all official bodies, as well as letters from senders such as banks, clients and suppliers.
The General Business Correspondence Post service only includes us forwarding letters from HMRC, Companies House, ICO, ONS and other Government bodies.
Other questions about registered office addresses
What is an appropriate registered office address?
Companies House requires every company to maintain an appropriate registered office address. This means that documents sent there should be expected to reach someone acting on behalf of the company, and delivery should be capable of being recorded or acknowledged.
An address should not be used if nobody monitors the post or ensures that important correspondence reaches the company.
Can I use a PO Box as my registered office address?
A PO Box on its own cannot be used as a registered office. The company must provide a physical address that meets Companies House’s appropriate-address requirements.
A professional registered office service can be used, provided someone monitors the address and ensures that official correspondence reaches the company.
Do I need to work from my registered office address?
No. The registered office is the company’s official legal address, but it does not have to be where you carry out your everyday work.
You can run your business from home, another office or overseas while using a professional registered office address in the company’s UK jurisdiction.
Is a registered office the same as a business or service address?
No. A registered office is the company’s official address for statutory correspondence from organisations such as Companies House and HMRC.
A business or trading address is where general customer and supplier correspondence is received. A director’s service address is the official correspondence address of an individual director. The same address can sometimes be used for more than one purpose, but each address has a different function.
Can I use a registered office service after forming my company?
Yes. You can appoint a registered office provider after your company has been incorporated.
The new address must be reported to Companies House and must remain within the jurisdiction where the company is registered. The change formally takes effect when Companies House registers the new address.
Can more than one company use the same registered office address?
Yes. More than one company can use the same registered office address, which is common when companies use an accountant, solicitor or professional address provider.
The address must still meet Companies House requirements, and there must be a reliable process for identifying and handling correspondence for each company.
Ready to order your registered office? Get started now!
Testimonial
"I am very impressed with the service that CFS provided for the setup of my Seychelles Company. They made the process very easy and straight forward. I would recommend using CFS"
Individual, Norway
