A reminder of your registered office and it’s importance

June 2, 2020 10:58 am Published by
Registered Office Facility London

Big Office building in London, with registered office services

A registered office address is a legal requirement for all limited companies and limited liability partnerships here in the United Kingdom. When you see a specific company record on the Companies House directory, this is one of the first pieces of information you will see. The purpose of this is to ensure that the Government authorities (Companies House & HM Revenue and Customs and other relevant bodies) are supplied with an official address for sending correspondence.

The Difference Between a Registered Office and a Trading Address

But your registered office does not need to be the same as your trading address, and the two addresses can also be in two completely different areas in the country. Residential and corporate addresses are both allowed, but many people choose to keep their residential address private.

A common question many prospective business owners will ask; is whether they have a legal obligation to trade from their registered address. The answer is no. There is no requirement to conduct your business and actually be physically present at your registered office.

Can you use your home address for your registered office?

Yes some do, however it is certainly common for users to subscribe to using a third party to provide a business address for them, effectively protecting their residential privacy. The most common reasons for using a professional registered office address service are for privacy concerns and to give credibility and prestige to your company.

As a Limited company owner; using a residential address as your registered office leaves you open for unsolicited visits and correspondence to your private residence. There has also been a huge rise in fraud coming from the theft of information that is on public record at Companies House. If you are to be a Director of the Limited company you are setting up. Using your residential address as your registered office will make it public. It will be linked to your name as Director within the available company information. Due to this increase in fraud, the government has amended company law. To make it easier for directors to remove historic residential addresses from the public record at Companies House.

A ‘corporate’ address will build further credibility that the company is a fully ‘working’ and ‘professional establishment. You can also choose a registered address service in a particular city and area. We offer four different addresses to companies, three in London and one in Scotland.

Many of our client companies use the registered office solely for their official correspondence address.

We offer mail forwarding to ensure that all-important letters arrive promptly at your preferred address. Please do take some time to see how specifically our services work and exactly what we can do for you.

Information on The Company Register

An aspect we cannot stress enough is the fact that your company’s registered address is always made public. It will be available on the Companies House directory online. The central purpose of this register is for transparency. So that the public have full details and information of Limited companies registered within the jurisdiction.

You will see below a list of information that is shown within a particular company account on the register:

  • Registered company name
  • Company registration number
  • Past and present directors and shareholders
  • Date of incorporation
  • Filing history
  • Nature of business activities
  • Trading status of company

 

If do you require a change of registered address, it is straight forward to do so. To make the change official with Companies House, you would need to file an AD01 form within 14 days of the change. Companies House will then update your address on the public directory and then notify HM Revenue and Customs.

Alternatively, we are happy to take care of this for you.

 

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This post was written by Chris Beck