business address

rose_marie

Need advice regarding 'registered business address'

A friend of mine wants to set up a limited company but does not want to register at his home address.

An internet search has brought up various companies selling 'registered business addresses'.

Does anybody has any experience regarding this?

Would you recommend doing this? If so, which company would you choose for 'registered address' and 'director's correspondence address'?

What about business letters from banks? Can he choose 'e banking' only.

Please advise....

00ec25

he is legally required to provide a registered office address to Companies house at which his company can be contacted by CH. It could be a PO box number, it could be a physical address - as you have found, there is a whole market place full of such providers. The only differential when picking is cost, since some will, some won't, include the cost of forwarding on any mail received by them to his actual address.

Please also note, that there is a difference between registered office address and trading address. HMRC will not accept a PO Box as an address for their purposes, whereas CH will.

His accountant will doubtless try to sell him a registered office "package", either using the accountant's own address or by simply taking a profit on selling him the "package" provided by an outsourced providers such as those you have found online.

Aquamania

00ec25 wrote: »

why is your "friend" unable to decide for himself? For a Ltd Co director this is a very basic decision, either he uses his home address or he does not.

if he does not, then he is legally required to provide a registered office address to Companies house at which his company can be contacted by CH. It could be a PO box number, it could be a physical address - as you have found, there is a whole market place full of such providers. The only differential when picking is cost, since some will, some won't, include the cost of forwarding on any mail received by them to his actual address.

Please also note, that there is a difference between registered office address and trading address. HMRC will not accept a PO Box as an address for their purposes, whereas CH will.

His accountant will doubtless try to sell him a registered office "package", either using the accountant's own address or by simply taking a profit on selling him the "package" provided by an outsourced providers such as those you have found online.

A limited company can only have one registered address (at any given time i.e. it can can changed)

The registered address is that address that is registered with Companies House

A company's registered address must be relate to a real physical address that can be found by any member of the general public, so a PO Box is generally NOT permitted, unless there is also a physical address specified.

A mailbox address, such as that of your accountant or provided by the likes of Mail Boxes Etc would be acceptable as it relates to a physical address. However, the registered address is an address where legal notices can de served, so you need to ensure you have access to the address, or at least ensure you have access to mail addressed to your company at that address. (e.g. by purchasing a mail forwarding service that you have 100% confidence in)

It is also a legal requirement to display the name of the company at the registered address. This is often done in the form of a brass plate, but such a brass plate is not a legal requirement.
But that is why you will often find a whole host of apprently unrelated companies specified as being located at your accountants office.

More on requirements of a registered company address here:
https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/company-address

Also you need to have a location where the company register is maintained and available for inspection. Many companies use their registered address, but you can elect a SAIL (Single Alternative Inspection Location). A SAIL (where elected), like the registered office address, is required to be registered with and is available to others from Companies House. Obviously that needs to be a physical address too.

Pennywise

Find out the actual address you'd be provided with and google it to ensure there havn't been any "dodgy" firms who've also used it which may have suffered bad publicity due to scams, etc. Potential customers, suppliers, etc., may also google your "official" address and be put off if there is "history" as they may think you're connected. It's also possible that HMRC could do the same and put sanctions on you (i.e. require deposit against VAT and PAYE liabilities) or even refuse to register you for voluntary VAT if another firm has used the same address and not paid their taxes.

Futuristic

Most popular ones that are legit are https://www.companiesmadesimple.com/mail-forwarding-service.html and https://www.smallfirmsservices.com

(Used both - smallfirms is cheaper and my go-to place now)


If you want to use the address for banks, you can give them it but ask them to set the correspondence address (assuming he/she is sole director) to their home address.

Savvy_Sue

rose_marie wrote: »

A friend of mine wants to set up a limited company but does not want to register at his home address.

You don't have to give it here, but what's his reasoning for that? If he just doesn't want irate customers coming to the door, it's worth bearing in mind that some potential customers just won't trust a company which doesn't have a 'reliable' looking address. What's his line of business?

rose_marie wrote: »

What about business letters from banks? Can he choose 'e banking' only.

Futuristic wrote: »

If you want to use the address for banks, you can give them it but ask them to set the correspondence address (assuming he/she is sole director) to their home address.

And you can also ask for e-correspondence only, but they will want a physical address for the signatories, and to have an address history covering probably the last five years.

martindow

Has your friend spoken to an accountant regarding setting up this business? You really need advice on whether a limited company is the best choice for them. There are pros and cons for being a sole trader or a company and you want to get that right from the start.

rhysadams

If you ask your accountant, they may allow you to use their address to start off with. This is what I did to begin with when working from home.