Requirements for the Registered Office
of a UK Limited Company
The following guide is designed to help you understand the Registered
Office requirements for a UK limited company.
What
is a registered office?
What is a valid addresses for a registered office?
Does
the registered office address have to be my main trading address?
Where
does the registered office address get displayed?
Is
there an alternative to using my own address?
What
is a registered office?
It is the address of a company to which Companies House letters
and reminders will be sent. The registered office can be anywhere
in England and Wales (or Scotland if your company is registered
there). The registered office must always be an effective address
for delivering documents to the company, and to avoid delays
it is important that all correspondence sent to this address
is dealt with promptly. If a company changes its registered
office address after incorporation, the new address must be
notified to Companies House on Form 287 available here - Companies
House Forms
The registered office
address will also be used by the UK tax authorities, and other
government departments, to contact the company.
In the event the company
is involved in any legal action official papers will often be
served at the registered office address.
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What
is a valid addresses for a registered office?
Companies House uses
the Post Office address file to verify addresses; so you need
to ensure the address is recognised by the Post Office and always
give the correct postcode.
It is not permitted
to use a Post Office box (PO Box) address as your registered
office. You can however use a PO box as your general correspondence
address for business mail and use an alternate address for the
registered office.
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Does
the registered office address have to be my main trading address?
No, you can use one
address as your trading address and another address for your
registered office. If you are trading from home you may want
to consider using one of Simple Formations prestigious addresses
as your registered office and using a local PO Box for general
correspondence. This ensures your home address is not displayed
on the public register at Companies House. A PO box can not
be used as a registered office address.
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Where
does the registered office address get displayed?
The address will be recorded
at Companies House and is freely available on their web site
for the general public to view. You must also state the registered
office address on your company stationery.
It is a legal requirement
to display the name of your company at the registered office
address. You can purchase a brass name plate from Simple Formations
engraved with your company name and the words “Registered
Office” available here – Brass
name plate
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Is
there an alternative to using my own address?
If you would prefer
not to make your address so publicly available or want a more
prestigious address why not use one of Simple Formations addresses?
Further information is available here – Registered
Office Service
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