Starting a company can be a complicated process. If there isn’t enough stress around incorporating a company, which has been made easier by our UK company incorporation services, there is often a lot of confusion on the different types of addresses a company is legally required to have, where these addresses will be visible and the function of each type of address, leaving business owners baffled and asking many questions such as:
What is the function of each different address of a business?
What addresses do I need for my business?
Where will the address be visible?
Where do I register my addresses?
By the end of this article, you will have the answers that you are looking for.
What is a Registered Address?
Under the Companies Act 2006 it is a legal requirement for any entity (both Limited Company and Limited Liability Partnership) incorporated on the Companies House register to have a registered address. This is an address that will be visible on the entity’s Companies House website and is shown as the company’s ‘Registered Office Address’ as shown in the image below:
A registered office address must be a physical address in the UK and it needs to be in the same country that your company is registered in i.e. if your company is registered in Scotland, then it’s registered address must be in Scotland. Another rule about registered addresses is that a company can only have one registered address at any point in time.
A registered address is where all important legal correspondence relating to the entity is posted, these documents are primarily from HMRC and Companies House but mail can also come from other government agencies such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Department of Work & Pensions. It is the company's responsibility to check the post at this address regularly for any government correspondence posted there.
If you are incorporating a new business and do not have an address that you are happy with being visible on the Companies House website our Recommended Package gives you a registered address that keeps your personal address private. This package is available to both new incorporations as well as existing businesses that wish to change their current registered address. Included within our Recommended Package we will update the businesses registered address on the Companies House Register to our address in the heart of the City of London.
What is the difference between a Business Address & Trading Address?
If all of these addresses aren’t confusing enough there is actually no difference between a ‘business address’ and a ‘trading address’. Both the terms are interchangeable and have the same meaning. For the purpose of this article, we will refer to it as a business address.
The simple description of a business address is that it is the physical address that a business conduct’s its day-to-day activities from. An example of the difference between a Registered Address and a business address is Dunelm. The Registered Address is in Leicester where it’s Head Quarters are located but Dunelm has over 150 stores across nationally, each of these stores would be a business address of Dunelm.
A business address does not need to be the same as a company’s registered address nor is it required to be public information, although it may be in your businesses interests to be visible in the public domain. Publicising the business address where the goods and/or services are sold would be beneficial to your company as it brings more eyes to your business and in turn could increase the sales generated by your business.
However, for those who conduct their businesses from their homes, using your home address as a business address has a few drawbacks. Primarily, it will reduce your privacy as your home address is visible by all potential customers of your business as well as also looking unprofessional to customers as this may portray the business to have less credibility and authority – not any fault of your own, but as a prejudgment made by the public. To ensure that your business looks professional we provide a package which allows you to use our professional City of London address as your business address. This gives your business an added layer of credibility and trust which can attract new customers.
What is a Directors Service Address?
A director’s service address is an official mailing address that is legally required to be disclosed by all company directors. Therefore, if you are chosen to be a director of a limited company, whether this is during or after registration, the directors address will be visible on the public record.
The directors service address is where all mail with regards to the relevant matters of the company from HMRC and Companies House are posted. This includes authorised notices, late filing penalties, courts and other government agency notes.
Unlike a registered address a director’s service addresses can be any address globally as long as it is a physical address. Directors can also use either a residential or non-residential address, this can include a company’s registered office address, assuming the full address has been provided.
Directors are not expected to operate out of their service address, nor are they required to visit them. A service address is simply needed for the sole purpose of receiving legal correspondence. This allows company directors to have their business mail sent to the registered address of the company that is found on the Companies House website.
Some directors wanting to protect their home address decide to buy a director’s service address. If you are becoming the director of a limited company or wish to change your current service address you can do so within an easydigitalcompany.com account. Here you are able to purchase our director’s service address package which keeps your residential address hidden off the Companies House Register.
Want Some More Info?
Hopefully this article has answered any questions that you had about the addresses required to run a limited business. If you wish to read more about the topics surrounding incorporating companies, please take a look into our Knowledge Base which has articles on topics such as a guide for registering for Payroll with HMRC. If you wish to incorporate a new company in order to purchase a property or to start a new business venture, you can do so by using our simple and affordable Incorporation Service available at Easy Digital Company.
