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And how a registered office service can help protect your private address from the public register
The company formation industry is jampacked with jargon. As ‘the simplest company formation service’ we feel it’s our duty to slice through this jargon and make limited companies - and the process of forming them - understandable to everyone. With this goal in mind, here you’ll find everything you need to know about the ‘registered office’, a commonly used industry term.
It is the official address for a UK limited company. Therefore it’s where government bodies such as Companies House (the UK’s registrar of companies) and HM Revenue & Customs will send ‘official’ company mail, such as important reminders about upcoming filing dates.
Yes. The registered office must be be based in either England, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales. Where your company’s registered office is defines the ‘nationality’ of your country. For example, if your registered office is in Scotland, your company will be - you guessed it - Scottish.
Sure, although if you rent you will need your landlord's permission. Plus, the registered office is on the public register, meaning that anyone can freely find it out. For some people this isn’t an issue, for others it is (after all, there’s nothing to stop customers turning up on your doorstep). Private address protection is one of the primary reasons that registered office services, such as ours, exist.
You use our N1, London address as your company’s registered office. Simple!
Nope. Your company need not trade from or even be based at the registered office, just as long as any government mail is handed or mailed to the company director/s.
Good question. In business first impressions really do matter. With our service you can use the address where we’re based (20 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU) as your company’s registered office - located minutes from Old Street Roundabout AKA Silicon Roundabout / Tech City. It’s the perfect place to base your business and will simply demand attention from potential customers and contacts. On top of this, because the registered office address is publically accessible information, you can expect to receive a huge amount of junk mail. With our service we’ll sift out the rubbish and only forward on the important government mail.
Yes, very easily - and it’s free! If you form your company with us (which you should definitely do) you will be able to update the registered office online via our system which syncs up directly with Companies House. If you don’t form with us (boo) you can change the address directly with Companies House online or with these paper forms. However - and this is important - you can’t move your company’s registered office from one country to another, unless the registered office is based in England or Wales, in which case you can move the registered office freely between England and Wales. So if your company’s registered office is in Scotland, it must stay in Scotland, likewise, if it’s in Northern Ireland, it must stay in Northern Ireland.
Find out more about our registered office service
We’ve written an eBook dedicated to protecting your personal information when forming a limited company; ‘Your information on the public register’ Download the eBook for a thorough look at how you can stop your personal information from becoming public information.
Brought to you by Company Formation MadeSimple, the UK’s leading online company formation provider. Established in 2002, we have helped more than 1 million people get their company started. Are you next?
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