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Coddan CPM Ltd. – Company Registration Agent in the UK

Follow a practical route from understanding the purpose of your CLG registered office to assessing the current arrangement and identifying the appropriate next step.

Step 1
Understand Registered Office
Step 2
Check Jurisdiction Requirements
Step 3
Assess Current Arrangement
Step 4
Distinguish Address Functions
Step 5
Identify Appropriate Route
Step 6
Maintain Company Records
Companies Registry's e-Services Portal Non-For-Profit Companies Secretarial Services for CLGs CLG Company Limited by Guarantee Registered Office Address & SAIL Address

CLG Company Limited by Guarantee Registered Office Address & SAIL Address

Start With the Job

What Job Does This Address or Arrangement Need to Perform?

When a company is considering its registered office or another address arrangement, the first question is what the company actually needs the arrangement to do.

You may need to receive official communications reliably. You may need an address that can continue to be used as the company's registered office. You may instead be trying to solve a different practical problem involving correspondence, records, privacy or physical premises.

1

Identify the job

What does the company need this address or arrangement to accomplish?

2

Look at what exists

What arrangement does the company already have, and is it still working?

3

Separate the functions

An address may be suitable for one company function without being the right instrument for another.

4

Only then consider change

If the present arrangement already performs the required job, there may be nothing to change and nothing to buy.


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£35.00
+VAT

SAIL Inspection Address

Recommended for

1
package

Buy Now Essential SAIL Inspection Address — £35 + VAT per year · A straightforward alternative inspection location for company records you maintain yourself
SAIL Inspection Address is designed for Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLGs) that already maintain their own relevant company records and simply need an alternative location where those records may lawfully be kept and made available for inspection. Your existing registered office can remain unchanged if it continues to suit the company. Coddan provides an Aldershot Single Alternative Inspection Location (SAIL) for the defined records covered by the arrangement, without taking over responsibility for maintaining or updating the underlying company records.

A Separate Inspection Location Without Changing What Already Works
This package is designed for Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLGs) that maintain their own relevant company records but want a separate alternative inspection location. It is appropriate where the registered office already performs its required function and there is no reason to replace it merely because the company needs a different records or inspection arrangement. Coddan provides the SAIL facility, while the company continues to maintain its underlying records.
Included:
• Use of Coddan's Aldershot address as the company's SAIL for 12 months
• Establishment of the SAIL arrangement for the records covered by the service
• Facility for relevant permitted records to be made available for inspection at the SAIL
• Renewal administration for the SAIL facility
• Actual inspection handling available at £25 + VAT per inspection event
Transparent scope: This package provides the inspection-location function only. Coddan does not automatically maintain, update or review the company's underlying statutory or corporate records under this package. Need records support as well? A broader records package can be selected separately.



£75.00
+VAT

SAIL Records Facility

Recommended for

2
package

Buy Now Organised SAIL Records Facility — £75 + VAT per year · An organised records and inspection facility while you continue maintaining the records yourself
SAIL Records Facility is designed for CLGs that continue to maintain their own relevant company records but want those records held and administered through a clearer alternative inspection arrangement. Coddan provides the Aldershot SAIL together with a practical facility for holding and organising the defined records covered by the service and dealing with the inspection-location function, while routine maintenance and updating of the underlying company records remains with the company.

Keep Control of Your Records — Add an Organised Inspection Facility
This package is designed for CLGs that maintain their own company records but want a more organised separation between the registered office and the records/inspection function. Coddan provides the SAIL facility, receives and organises the defined records supplied for the arrangement, and administers the practical inspection-location function. The company continues to maintain and update the underlying records unless additional support is separately requested.
Included:
• Everything included in the SAIL Inspection Address package
• Facility for holding the defined company records covered by the service
• Initial organisation of records supplied to Coddan for the SAIL facility
• Administration of the inspection-location arrangement
• Practical handling where an entitled inspection request is received
Transparent scope: Routine maintenance and updating of the underlying company records is not included. Additional record updates, substantial inspection work or wider company-secretarial assistance can be provided separately where required. This package is for companies that want an organised records facility, not outsourced record maintenance.



£150.00
+VAT

SAIL Records Care

Recommended for

3
package

Buy Now Managed SAIL Records Care — £150 + VAT per year · Professional company-secretarial support for the records covered by your SAIL arrangement
SAIL Records Care is designed for CLGs that want more than an alternative inspection address. Under this package, Coddan's company-secretarial team provides the Aldershot SAIL and records/inspection facility together with professional assistance maintaining the specific company records included within the package scope. It is suitable where the company does not want to manage those defined records alone and prefers the records and inspection functions to be coordinated professionally.

Professional Records Maintenance With the SAIL Arrangement Coordinated for You
This package is designed for CLGs that want Coddan's company-secretarial team involved in maintaining the defined corporate records covered by the service. Instead of the company maintaining those records itself and using Coddan only as an inspection location, Coddan reviews the records supplied, maintains the included records from information provided to us and coordinates the associated SAIL and inspection arrangements.
Included:
• Aldershot SAIL address
• Records and inspection facility
• Initial review of the defined records supplied to Coddan
• Maintenance of the company records specifically included within the package scope
• Appropriate updates to those records from information supplied to Coddan
• Administration of associated inspection arrangements
• Company-secretarial support concerning the records covered by the service
Transparent scope: This package does not automatically include every company-secretarial, Companies House, accounting or tax function. Work outside the defined records scope, substantive filings or wider governance assignments can be dealt with separately where required. The package is designed for professional records care, not unlimited company administration.



£295.00
+VAT

SAIL & Secretarial Care

Recommended for

4
package

Buy Now Complete Care SAIL & Company Secretarial Care — £295 + VAT per year · Ongoing records, inspection and routine company-secretarial support in one coordinated service
SAIL & Company Secretarial Care is designed for CLGs whose requirement goes beyond finding somewhere to keep records. Coddan's company-secretarial team provides the defined records support and SAIL facility together with a broader level of routine company-secretarial administration, helping the company maintain a clearer continuing relationship between its corporate records, inspection arrangements and relevant company changes.

Ongoing Company-Secretarial Support Around Your Records and Inspection Arrangements
This package is designed for CLGs that want a continuing professional relationship rather than an address-only or records-only service. Coddan coordinates the defined company records and SAIL arrangement while also providing broader routine company-secretarial support connected with those records and changes notified to us. It is suitable where several aspects of the company's records require continuing attention and the directors or members prefer a professional point of contact for routine corporate administration.
Included:
• Everything included within SAIL Records Care
• Broader maintenance of the defined company records within the package scope
• Periodic review of the company's records position
• Routine company-secretarial assistance connected with those records
• Defined routine updates arising from company changes notified to Coddan
• Administration of relevant inspection requests
• Guidance where a change creates a separate Companies House, governance or company-secretarial requirement
Transparent scope: Separate substantive filings, transactions, constitutional work, accounting or tax work, and specialist assignments remain outside the package unless expressly included. This is ongoing company-secretarial care around the defined records function, not an unlimited all-inclusive corporate service.




Registered Office

What Is the Registered Office Actually For?

The registered office is the company's registered address. It forms part of the company's formal corporate arrangements and is the address to which relevant official communications and notices may be sent.

The practical point is that an address appearing on the company's public record is not the whole analysis. The arrangement needs to allow relevant communications sent to the registered office to be received reliably and brought to the attention of someone acting for the company.

The address must also meet the applicable requirements for the registered office, including the relevant jurisdiction and the company's right or permission to use the address. Those requirements are different from other functions that may happen to involve the same location.

Existing Arrangement

Is the Registered Office Doing the Job Required?

Once the required function is clear, look at the existing registered-office arrangement rather than assuming that a change is necessary.

Availability The address remains available to the company.
Permission The company continues to have the necessary right or permission to use it.
Receipt Relevant communications are received and brought to the company's attention.
Continuity The arrangement remains workable for the company's continuing needs.

If the present arrangement performs the required job adequately, retaining it may be the most appropriate outcome. There is no professional reason to create a change simply because another address or service is available.

The Important Distinction

Are You Asking the Registered Office to Do Another Job?

A registered office can be involved in several aspects of a company's administration, but that does not mean that every address-related requirement is a registered-office requirement.

You may instead be dealing with correspondence, company records, inspection arrangements, privacy, business activities or physical premises. Those functions can sometimes involve the same address, but they remain different functions.

Registered office The company's formal registered address.
Other address functions Correspondence, records, officer addresses, business functions and premises may have their own requirements.
The practical consequence Changing the registered office may not solve a problem that belongs to another function.
Records and Inspection

What Is a SAIL Actually For?

A SAIL is a statutory instrument that can provide an alternative location for specified company records and applicable inspection arrangements where the law permits.

It is not a replacement registered office and it is not a general-purpose business or virtual-office address.

Where a company uses a SAIL, the company makes the required notifications to Companies House and uses the location for the permitted records and inspection function. The relevant statutory requirements determine what may be kept there; the company cannot simply treat every company document as transferable to a SAIL.

Why this matters Your existing registered office may be entirely satisfactory while a separate records or inspection requirement is dealt with through a SAIL.
Company Records

Which Records Does the Company Still Need to Maintain?

The company-record position has changed in recent years. Some former local company registers are no longer required to be maintained by companies in the former manner, while the corresponding information must be provided to and kept up to date at Companies House.

Still Company-Maintained

Relevant corporate records

The reforms do not mean that a company can stop maintaining every corporate record. The records applicable to the particular CLG still need to be identified and maintained appropriately.

Particular CLG Importance

Register of members

For a CLG, the register of members remains a particularly important company-maintained record and has its own statutory location and inspection provisions.

Practical Starting Point

Know what exists and where

The useful question is therefore not simply whether Companies House holds information. It is whether the company knows what records it must maintain, where they are maintained and how applicable inspection requirements are met.

Public Register ≠ Company Records

Why Doesn't Companies House Simply Hold All Your Company Records?

Companies House maintains the public company register and receives information and documents that companies are required to file. That does not make the public register a substitute for every corporate record the company itself remains required to maintain.

Companies House Public-register information and filed documents within its statutory role.
The company Its own corporate records and records that applicable law requires it to maintain.
Other records Accounting, tax and incoming correspondence are separate document functions.

“Companies House has our company records.” That may describe part of the information available publicly, but it does not by itself establish where the company's own records are maintained.

Inspection

What Does Inspection Actually Mean?

A statutory inspection right belongs to the particular record and provision that creates that right. Different company records do not all carry identical inspection rights.

The practical starting point is therefore not simply, “Where can we put our documents?” It is understanding which records are subject to inspection and how the company's arrangement makes the relevant records available when required.

record ≠ inspection right ≠ inspection location

A SAIL can change the permitted location at which relevant records are kept or made available for applicable inspection purposes. It does not itself create, remove or alter the underlying statutory right.

CLG Members

What Does This Mean for a CLG Member?

A CLG member does have statutory inspection rights in relation to particular company records. One important example is the register of members.

Register of members

Section 116 of the Companies Act 2006 provides inspection rights in relation to the company's register of members, including the right of a member to inspect the register and its index without charge, subject to the statutory provisions governing that right and the particular circumstances.

That does not mean every record

Being a member does not create a general right to inspect every document held by the company. The applicable right depends upon the particular record and statutory provision.

Location is a separate issue

Where the relevant record is maintained or made available is a separate question from whether the member has a statutory right to inspect it.

member status ≠ requested record ≠ inspection right ≠ inspection location

A Practical Check

When Did You Last Check Your Own Company's Records?

This is a useful practical check because uncertainty about the company's records often reveals that the real issue is not simply the address.

What records exist? The company should know which records it is required to maintain.
Where are they kept? The relevant location should be known and workable.
Who maintains them? The administrative role should be clear.
Are they current? The company's present position should be reflected accurately.

Not knowing the answer does not automatically mean that a SAIL or another address service should be purchased. First establish the company's actual record position and the requirements that apply to it.

Ownership and Responsibility

Who Maintains the Records — and Who Remains Responsible?

Administrative work can be performed by different people. A company secretary, accountant, employee or professional provider may perform a particular task, but that does not automatically transfer every underlying company or officer responsibility to that person.

Function

Who performs the task?

The company may arrange for another person to carry out administrative work.

Responsibility

What remains with the company?

Delegating an administrative function does not by itself rewrite the company's legal responsibilities.

Clarity

Keep the allocation clear

The important thing is to know which function has been delegated and what responsibility remains.

The practical question is whether the company can clearly identify who performs each function, what has been delegated, and what responsibility remains with the company and its officers.

access ≠ maintenance ≠ delegated function ≠ retained responsibility

Correspondence

Who Handles Correspondence — and What Does That Actually Mean?

Receiving, scanning or forwarding correspondence is a practical administrative function. It is not automatically the same as maintaining the company's records or providing an inspection location.

Correspondence Receiving, scanning, uploading or forwarding incoming company correspondence.
Company records Maintaining the relevant corporate records of the company.
Inspection Making relevant records available where an applicable statutory inspection requirement exists.
Accounting and tax Accounting and tax records form another distinct category.

The practical position should therefore be clear: who receives the correspondence, who deals with it, where the relevant company records are maintained, and where an applicable inspection requirement is met are separate questions.

Commercial Arrangement

Is a Virtual Office Doing the Same Job?

A virtual-office arrangement is primarily a commercial service. Its precise features depend on the arrangement provided. It may include permission to use an address as a registered office, but that does not make the two concepts identical.

Registered Office

Statutory corporate function

The company needs an arrangement that satisfies the applicable registered-office requirements.

Virtual Office

Commercial arrangement

The arrangement may provide business correspondence, mail handling, telephone, reception or meeting facilities, depending on what is actually included.

If you only need a registered office, you should not assume that a wider virtual-office package is necessary. If you genuinely need additional commercial functions, those can be considered separately after the registered-office requirement is understood.

Physical Premises

Does Having Premises Change the Position?

A company may rent or occupy real premises without that automatically making those premises its registered office. Equally, a company does not need to rent conventional office premises merely because it needs a registered office.

Having premises ≠ having a registered office.

Where occupied premises are intended to perform the registered-office function, the relevant statutory appropriate-address requirements still matter. In particular, the arrangement must provide for reliable delivery to a person acting for the company and acknowledgement of delivery where required.

Working space Premises may provide staff, storage, meetings or operational space.
Registered office The company still needs an address arrangement satisfying the registered-office requirements.
Other functions Business activity, correspondence, records and display requirements may involve additional considerations.
At the Address

What Actually Exists at the Address?

Recording an address as the company's registered office is only part of the picture. Where the company has premises, other statutory or practical requirements may apply to what is displayed or made available at that location.

The form of any required company-name display depends on the applicable statutory rules and the circumstances of the premises. The important point is that recording an address as the registered office does not, by itself, answer every separate requirement that may apply at that location.

This can matter particularly where a company operates from, rents or occupies physical premises rather than simply using an address arrangement.

An address on Companies House is therefore only part of the picture. The practical circumstances at the location may need to be considered separately.

Location, Prestige and Price

Does Location or Price Change the Registered-Office Function?

A £17 or £27 registered office is not automatically inadequate. A £300 registered office is not automatically better. The relevant question is what the additional price actually provides for this particular company.

Lower Cost

£17 or £27

If the arrangement performs the registered-office function the company needs, its lower price does not make it defective.

Higher Cost

£300

A higher price may be justified where additional functions, facilities, service levels, continuity or commercial value genuinely matter.

The same reasoning applies to W1W versus EC3. A London location may carry different commercial associations or presentation value, and a company may legitimately value that. But the postcode itself does not give the registered office a different statutory function.

Separate Authorities

What Do Companies House and HMRC Actually Have to Do With the Address?

Companies House and HMRC have different statutory and administrative functions. A registered office must satisfy the applicable corporate requirements; it is not selected because one postcode supposedly impresses Companies House or HMRC.

Companies House

Companies House maintains the public company register and administers relevant corporate filings and information.

HMRC

HMRC has separate tax-administration functions, including matters concerning tax records and correspondence.

The practical point

A change of registered office may have connected government-record consequences, but it does not turn Companies House and HMRC into the same authority or make postcode prestige a statutory requirement.

Functional Separation

Can You Keep the London Registered Office and Use a SAIL Elsewhere?

Potentially, yes. These instruments do not have to be treated as competing addresses. A company may retain an existing London registered office where it continues to perform that function adequately while using a separate permitted SAIL arrangement for another statutory purpose.

Existing Arrangement

London registered office

The London address can continue to perform the registered-office function if it remains suitable.

Separate Instrument

Aldershot SAIL

The Aldershot location may be used for those company records that may lawfully be kept there and for the applicable inspection arrangements.

This is an example of functional separation, not an automatic recommendation. First establish whether the company actually needs a SAIL and whether the proposed arrangement satisfies the applicable requirements.

Put the Functions Together

What Does the Complete Arrangement Actually Need to Cover?

By this point, the important distinction is not how many services or addresses you have. It is whether each relevant company function has an appropriate arrangement.

Registered office Does the company's registered-office arrangement perform its statutory function?
Records Are the company's required records identified, maintained and located appropriately?
Inspection Are applicable statutory inspection rights supported by the relevant arrangements?
Correspondence Is incoming correspondence received and dealt with appropriately?
Premises If the company occupies premises, are the separate physical requirements understood?
Responsibility Is it clear who performs each function and what responsibility remains with the company and officers?

The aim is not to accumulate services. It is to ensure that each function has an arrangement that actually fits it.

Your Appropriate Route

What Is the Appropriate Outcome for Your Company?

Once the functions are separated and the existing arrangements are understood, the appropriate outcome may be much simpler than expected.

No Change

Keep what already works

If the existing registered office and other arrangements satisfy the company's requirements, retaining them may be the correct professional outcome.

Registered Office

Address action

Where the registered-office requirement is clear and action is genuinely required, follow the appropriate registered-office route.

Records / SAIL

Separate records route

Where the real issue concerns company records, inspection or a SAIL, deal with that function rather than changing the registered office unnecessarily.

Different Function

Use the appropriate instrument

A correspondence, virtual-office, premises, accounting, tax or other requirement may need its own solution.

Connected Matter

Pause before acting

If several corporate matters are connected or the position is unclear, proportionate professional clarification may be more appropriate than immediate action.

Formation

Consider formation only when relevant

If the company has not yet been established and the registered-office question is genuinely part of forming the CLG, the formation route may be appropriate.

The shortest appropriate route is not necessarily the route involving the most services.

If there is no genuine gap, retaining what already works is a valid outcome.