register a company in the uk

Various Company addresses

by | Jul 9, 2019 | Business

The mandatory address details provided during the Company incorporation are:

Registered Office

The most important address is the registered office address. The basic requirements for a registered office address are:

  1. The office location and the address must be the same.  It is mandatory to state that the company is located in England and Wales, in Wales (“Welsh” Company), In Northern Ireland or in Scotland. The address has to be in the same location.
  2. It has to be a physical location where the company’s documents can be delivered.
  3. It should be able to be inspected.
  4. The location cannot be changed, but the address can be changed in the same country.
  5. A company can have only 1 registered address at any point in time.
  6. This address will be made public.  The company can use a residential address but they have to keep in mind that the address will be in public records.
  7. It is not mandatory to carry on the trade in the registered address.

Service Address

This is mostly the communication address for the directors, secretaries, PSC members of a Company. Basic requirements:

  1. It can be situated anywhere i.e. same place as registered address or anywhere in the UK or overseas address.
  2. It has to be a physical address with postal code to receive communications and legal mails from Companies House.
  3. It can be the same as the registered address.
  4. It can be the same as a residential address, but in that case, the residential address will be on public records.
  5. It can be easily changed at any point in time, but only 1 service address at a given time.
  6. Not mandatory to be as a work address.
  7. It will be made public in the records.

Residential Address

  1. All the directors must provide their residential addresses.
  2. This record will not be made public. It will be on an internal private register of Companies House.
  3. Residential and Service addresses can be the same.
  4. It will be provided only to specified Public Authorities and Credit Reference Agencies. But an exemption can be made on request and the information will not be provided to the Credit Reference Agencies.

There are some optional company addresses which can be given. They are:

Single Alternative Inspection Location (SAIL address)

SAIL address can be used when the company wants another location for inspection of statutory records by people other than the official registered records. The requirements are:

  1. SAIL address should be located in the same part of the UK as the registered address.
  2. Companies House needs to be informed if using a SAIL address.
  3. The list of records and registers maintained at SAIL address for inspection should be submitted at Companies House.
  4. SAIL address can be changed anytime but it has to be in the same location as UK.
  5. SAIL address needs to be on public records.
  6. Form AD02 can be used for registering SAIL address and AD03 for the movement of records to a new address.

Business / Trading addresses

A business address is mainly the place where the company’s actual trading takes place. It is not a mandatory address.

  1.  A company can have as many business addresses as they want.
  2. These addresses are used for non-statutory businesses.
  3. They are used for communication between the clients, employees, suppliers, banks, any service providers, etc. with whom we actually run the business on a day to day level.
  4.  Keeping all the business addresses public, helps the company run the work smoothly and create awareness of all its locations.
  5. It can be a home address if the company’s work runs from home.

Addresses snapshot

Type of Address Public/Private Mandatory / Optional
Registered Office Public Mandatory
Service Address Public Mandatory
Residential Address Private Mandatory
Single Alternative Inspection Location (SAIL address) Public Optional
Business / Trading addresses Public Optional

Which data is made public?

When any company is incorporated, the shareholders of the company are benefitted with limited liability. In return of such benefits, the company information is reviewed and rechecked by the Companies House and then made public to create trust and transparency.

This information is made available for common public and is called the “public record”. The below details are available online, free of charge for any incorporated Company:

  1. Nature of Business
  2. Annual accounts
  3. The controller of the Company
  4. Company’s registered address
  5. Company Type
  6. Incorporated Date
  7. Directors’ below details:
  8. Name
  9. Nationality
  10. Occupation
  11. Birth records (only month and year)
  12. Service address
  13. Secretary’s below details:
  14. Service address
  15. Details for People with significant control (PSC):
  16. Name
  17. Nationality
  18. Occupation
  19. Birth records (only month and year)
  20. Service address
  21. Nature of control (% of shares and Voting rights)

How the public can access records?

The public records are available as long as the company is active. Even after a company is dissolved, the records are made public for 20 years. Then the records of a dissolved company are transferred to The National Archives (TNA). Even with TNA, the records can be requested by the general public. The following ways can be used to easily view public records:

  1. Companies House Service (CHS)
  2. WebCHeck
  3. Contact centre
  4. Information Centres
  5. DVD products
  6. Data products
  7. API

What is a Formations Company?

Formations Companies are agents/consultants who help other businesses in the process of incorporation of their company. A formations company has a team of experts to guide a layman on the formation process with their professional guidance. They make sure that the application of incorporation doesn’t get rejected at the Companies House.

Benefits of a Formations Company:

  1. Team of experts assisting in setting up a company name.
  2. Experience in entire Incorporation process as they handle simultaneous clients.
  3. A quick process with professional guidance.
  4. Fewer chances of rejection by Companies House.
  5. Well prepared documents with no mistakes.
  6. Legal advice on post-incorporation matters.
  7. Familiar with the rules.
  8. After sales service.
  9. Help in company formation with the bank account
  10. Provides services in Registered office address
  11. Services in getting Bank Loans
  12. Quoted Fees include all the filling charges and service charges. No hidden cost.