smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Email a Friend

I am going to start a new business. I don't want to register my home address, although I will be using my home as my office initially. What are my options?

The company's Registered Office address can be anywhere in England or Wales (if that is where the company is registered), and does not need to be the same address as the company carries on business from. The Registered Office must be a physical location, and not a P.O. Box number. Many professional firms, eg. accountants, solicitors, providers of Company Secretarial Services and Company Formation Agents will offer the use of their address as a Registered Office, for a fee. Fees for this service can vary enormously, so it is worth shopping around.

If you do not wish your home address to be shown on the public record at all, you have the option to provide a Service Address on filing your appointment as a Director. This can be any address, not necessarily in the UK, but must be an address where: (i) the service of documents can be effected by physical delivery; and (ii) the delivery of documents is capable of being recorded by the obtaining of an acknowledgement of delivery. You must still notify your home address to Companies House (and any changes to it), but if you have provided an alternative Service Address your home address will remain confidential. If Companies House have reason to believe that you cannot be contacted via your service address, they retain the right to place your last-notified home address on the public record. 

See also: Choosing your business address

Related topics: Home address, Registered office

Previous article

Starting an eBay agent business

Next article

Jane Asher on starting a business

Post a comment

Related

Small Business Offers

More from Small Business

Financing a Business
How to manage your accounts better in an hour a week

How to manage your accounts better in an hour a week

Accountant Emily Coltman of FreeAgent gives some pointers on seeing the bigger financial picture of your...  

Running a Business
How to reframe business problems to better serve your customers

How to reframe business problems to better serve your customers

Jonathan Richards discusses how you can add value to a sale by changing the way...  

News
Legal problems hit small businesses for £100 billion a year

Legal problems hit small businesses for £100 billion a year

Small business owners are being let down by legal services providers, being hit financially and...  

Blog
How to keep control of your sales process

How to keep control of your sales process

Shaun Thomson, founder of sales and leadership training company Sandler, discusses how to modify your...