Virtual office Address

Denbyas

Does any small businesses use a virtual office address for Mail?

im not too keen posting my home business address on my website and thought this might be a little safer.
I was looking at clydeoffices which seem very reasonable but unsure if it is the way to go.
im not expecting much, if any, Mail but I want my website and business to be legal

any experiences?

J_B

Use your accountant's address perhaps?

Pennywise

J_B said:

Use your accountant's address perhaps?

That's becoming more problematic and costly these days due to the recent changes to the money laundering regulations which mean an accountant offering address/mail services to a client almost automatically makes that client a "higher risk" for the purposes of the money laundering regs, which means more identity/address checks, enhanced paperwork/checklists etc for "enhanced due diligence", which ultimately mean higher accountancy fees to cover that time/admin.  Professional bodies have also started sending out questionnaires (risk evaluations) asking accountancy practices to disclose how many registered offices they provide for their clients, what risk assessment steps they're taking etc.  The regulatory bodies are taking it seriously these days and accountancy practices are becoming less interested in providing a low income/no income service.

MalMonroe

Could you hire a PO Box from Royal Mail? The annual fee is around £250, which seems quite reasonable. I'm not sure if there are any special rules pertaining to businesses but it's something you could perhaps check out.

Sandtree

Denbyas said:
im not too keen posting my home business address on my website and thought this might be a little safer.

Safer for who? Whilst many people do buy blindly (look at the Consumer Rights section for hundreds of cases of people buying from dodgy websites) there are hopefully a growing number who do their homework before making their first purchase from a new company to them. Having a mail forwarding company with thousands of others is a red flag to many.

MalMonroe said:

Could you hire a PO Box from Royal Mail? The annual fee is around £250, which seems quite reasonable. I'm not sure if there are any special rules pertaining to businesses but it's something you could perhaps check out.

Though remember that unless you are in a high risk industry (eg jewelry) then they are obliged to give the real address on request.