Registered office and mail handling
Before there is an office there is still an address on the invoices, post arriving, and UK customers who want to ring somebody in their own timezone. All three, without a lease.
A UK address, post handling and a UK phone number
UK customers generally arrive before UK premises. The company still needs an address that satisfies the Companies House rules, someone opening what is delivered to it, and a number answered during the UK working day rather than eight hours after the call.
What you get
- Registered office and business address
- Director service addresses
- Post opened, scanned, forwarded same day
- UK phone number
- Calls answered in the company name
- Messages by email the same hour
What we do
A registered office that qualifies
Since March 2024 it must be somewhere a document will reach someone acting for the company. A PO Box does not qualify and Companies House can strike a company off over it.
A business address
For customers, suppliers and banks, which does not have to be the same as the registered office and often should not be.
Director service addresses
So home addresses abroad stay off the public record.
Post opened the same day
Scanned and emailed, with anything legal or time-critical flagged rather than just forwarded. Originals sent on request.
A UK number, answered in the company's name
During UK business hours, with messages emailed within the hour.
An honest view on establishment
A mail address does not by itself make a company established in the UK for VAT, and HMRC looks at this. We tell you before the registration is refused, not after.
A UK subsidiary needs an address before it needs anything else, and it needs one that works rather than one that merely exists. Since March 2024 a registered office must be somewhere a document will come to the attention of someone acting for the company, and Companies House can change a company's address or strike it off where that is not true. A PO Box does not qualify.
The address
- Our office as the company's registered office, which appears on the public register and must appear on the company's letterhead, invoices and website.
- A business address for customers, suppliers and banks, which does not have to be the same thing and often should not be.
- Service addresses for directors and controllers, so their home addresses abroad stay off the public record.
- Post opened, scanned and emailed the same working day. Originals forwarded on request. This is the part that matters: HMRC penalty notices, Companies House warnings and court claims all have short deadlines and all arrive on paper.
The phone
A UK number answered in the company's name during UK business hours, with messages emailed within the hour. For a group whose people are asleep when the UK is working, this is the difference between a prospect leaving a message and a prospect calling a competitor.
The limits of the service
It is not a substitute for a UK establishment where the company needs one. A mail-forwarding address does not by itself make a company established in the UK for VAT purposes, and HMRC does look at this on VAT registrations, particularly where the directors and staff are all abroad. Where the group's UK presence is just an address, we will tell you what that means for the VAT registration rather than letting it be refused three weeks later.
Common questions
Can we use your address as our trading address on the website?
Yes. The registered office must be on the website and invoices in any case, and most subsidiaries use it as the business address too until they take space.
Do you forward physical post?
Everything is opened, scanned and emailed the same working day, which is faster and more reliable. Originals are forwarded on request, and anything that looks legal or time-critical is flagged rather than just scanned.
Will HMRC accept a serviced address for VAT registration?
It depends on whether the company is established in the UK, which is about where the business is run rather than where the post goes. We assess that before applying, because a refused registration costs weeks.
Can we have a London address?
Our registered office is the address we provide. If the group specifically needs a London address for commercial reasons, say so and we will tell you what is possible and what it costs.
Related services
Agent for service of documents
QuotedA named person in the UK to accept legal documents
A named agent authorised to accept service, with anything received scanned to you the same day and flagged for what it is and what the deadline is.
Administration support for a UK operation
QuotedThe administrative work a new subsidiary generates
Order handling, customer enquiries, supplier onboarding and document chasing, done during UK hours by someone who already knows the company's finances.
Setting up a UK subsidiary
QuotedIncorporation and the registrations that follow
Incorporation, the ownership register, identity verification for each director, then corporation tax, PAYE and VAT registrations. One fee, everything a new UK company must have.
Get a fixed quote
Tell us where the parent company is and what the UK operation has to do.
