Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) and Single Alternative Inspection Location (SAIL) company-secretarial service

CLG SAIL Address, AD02/AD03 Filing and Company Records Service

Establish a workable Single Alternative Inspection Location (SAIL), notify Companies House correctly and place the applicable Company Limited by Guarantee records into an accurate, inspectable and maintainable arrangement.

You may already have a suitable SAIL address, want to keep it separate from the registered office, or need Coddan to provide the address and continuing record-maintenance support. If the company’s records are missing, uncertain or inconsistent, we can review the available evidence before the records are placed at the SAIL.

This is not merely an AD02 or AD03 filing service. The professional destination is a properly notified record location containing the records that are actually meant to be available there. The forms are the filing instruments used to reach that destination.

Begin the SAIL and records review

For the initial enquiry, provide only the company name or number and a short description of the required service. Do not attach registers, residential addresses or identity documents to an ordinary enquiry. Coddan will confirm the agreed scope and the appropriate document-collection method before confidential records are supplied.

Does This Service Fit the Company’s Position?

How Your Service Starts

1. Initial enquiry. You supply the company name or number, the broad problem and whether the company has its own proposed SAIL. Confidential registers, residential addresses and identity documents should not be attached to an ordinary enquiry.
2. Preliminary route and scope. Coddan identifies the apparent service level, the authority and information required, and the basis of the one-off and any continuing charges.
3. Authority, acceptance and payment. An authorised company representative approves the proposed address and work, accepts the service scope and terms, supplies the company authentication or decisions that belong to the company, and pays the stated fee. Coddan’s responsibility begins when the engagement is accepted.
4. Controlled document collection. Coddan then provides the appropriate collection route for the records required by the accepted scope. The audit, filing, reconstruction or custody work begins only after the necessary material has been received.

You do not have to diagnose the filings or reconstruct the records before instructing Coddan. Their formal job is to identify the company, provide truthful information and available evidence, give the decisions and authority that belong to the company, approve the agreed scope and pay the applicable charges. Coddan performs the professional review and preparation described in that scope.

What You Are Paying Coddan to Do

The professional work is not limited to transmitting an AD02 or AD03. Coddan reviews the information and evidence relevant to the accepted instruction, prepares the agreed documents and filing work, coordinates the practical record-location arrangement and makes clear what you still need to approve or supply.

Your participation remains important. You provide accurate information, company authority, decisions, approvals and evidence relevant to the instruction. Companies House remains responsible for processing the filing, while the company and its directors retain their legal responsibilities.

Registered Office and SAIL Perform Different Jobs

Your registered office and your SAIL do different jobs. The registered office remains the CLG’s official address for statutory communications. A SAIL is a separate, optional location where specified company records may be kept and made available for inspection. A SAIL does not replace the registered office.

In practice, the SAIL also needs to be in the same part of the United Kingdom in which the company is registered. So an England and Wales company needs its SAIL in England and Wales, a Scottish company needs one in Scotland, and a Northern Irish company needs one in Northern Ireland. Changing the registered office does not create a SAIL, and notifying a SAIL does not by itself tell Companies House which records are actually kept there.

The company may provide its own suitable SAIL, retain its existing registered office and use a separate inspection location, or combine an applicable Coddan CLG registered-office service with a separate Coddan SAIL service. For remote non-profit founders, a professionally managed SAIL can provide an alternative inspection location without making the founder’s home the company’s record-inspection address. Coddan reviews the intended function of each address before preparing the relevant filings.

Why Your CLG’s Company Records Matter

The removal of several local-register requirements from 18 November 2025 did not remove the company’s responsibility for maintaining its remaining statutory records. A CLG must still hold and maintain its register of members at its registered office or SAIL and make it available for lawful public inspection. Other applicable inspection records must also be kept at the location notified for them. That makes managing statutory registers for a Company Limited by Guarantee an ongoing record-management task, not simply a Companies House filing exercise.

This is one reason professional SAIL support can add value beyond submitting a form. The practical question is not only which address should appear on AD02 or which records should be stated on AD03. It is also whether the company can identify the applicable records, locate them at the notified address and keep the Companies House notification aligned with the arrangement that exists in practice.

The Companies House public record and the company’s own records perform different jobs. Companies House records information delivered to the registrar. It does not necessarily show every internal event, establish that every required change was filed, or provide the complete constitutional and evidential history of the company.

For example, a director’s appointment should arise through the authority and procedure required by the Companies Act, the CLG’s articles and the relevant company decision. The appointment must then be notified to Companies House through the appropriate filing. If the internal decision was made but the notification was omitted, delayed or inaccurate, the public filing history may not show the full position. Conversely, the appearance of an appointment on the public record does not by itself resolve whether the underlying appointment was properly authorised.

The same practical distinction can affect members and guarantors. A CLG’s register of members is not replaced by its Confirmation Statements, incorporation documents or other Companies House filings. Those filings may provide useful evidence, but the company’s own register should establish the membership entries that can be supported, including when a person or corporate member joined or ceased to be a member and the particulars the law requires the register to contain.

Accurate company records can therefore be important when establishing:

• who the present members and guarantors are;
• whether an individual or corporate member was admitted or ceased membership in accordance with the articles and available evidence;
• who was entitled to receive notice, attend, vote or approve a member decision;
• whether board and member resolutions correspond with the company’s recorded company representatives;
• the evidenced history of directors, secretaries and other officers, even where a separate current local register is no longer required;
• the continuity of an RTM, resident-management, charitable or other membership-based CLG; and
• which records can genuinely be placed at the SAIL and produced for an entitled inspection request.

Coddan can compare the available internal registers, articles, minutes, resolutions, membership documents and correspondence with the Companies House filing history. We then identify supported entries, apparent filing omissions, contradictions and unresolved gaps; prepare or coordinate corrective filings within the agreed scope; and establish an accurate record set for continuing custody and maintenance. Where appropriate, this includes updating Companies House with statutory record-location details while keeping the company’s internal registers aligned with the actual record position.

This coordinated approach can be particularly useful where the company has changed directors, moved administration between addresses, operates remotely or has inherited records from an earlier administrator. The professional value is in connecting the company, jurisdiction, SAIL address, applicable records, evidence and Companies House notification into one documented administrative position rather than treating each item as an isolated task.

Fewer prescribed local registers does not mean that a CLG has no company-record obligations. It means the surviving registers, the Companies House information and the evidence supporting the company’s actual decisions must be kept in their correct places and must not be treated as interchangeable.

Four Common Situations — Which Sounds Like Yours?

Ask Coddan to determine the appropriate SAIL route

What Coddan Reviews Before Filing AD02 or AD03

Coddan does not begin with a form. The review establishes the company and record position that the filing must describe. For a professional AD02 and AD03 filing bureau for guarantee companies, the same principle applies: the submission should describe the company’s actual address and record position rather than substitute a form for the underlying arrangement. The work can therefore operate as an outsourced statutory-register location filing and compliance service, subject to the records and authority the company can support. Depending on the agreed scope, it covers:

• the CLG’s registered jurisdiction and current registered office;
• whether Companies House already records a SAIL;
• where the applicable records are actually held and whether they can be inspected;
• the authority for moving records and authenticating the filing;
• which records should be identified in the current notification;
• the register of members, articles, membership structure and supporting decisions;
• whether appointments, cessations, membership changes and company decisions supported by the internal evidence were properly reflected in the applicable Companies House filings;
• gaps or contradictions between internal records and the Companies House filing history; and
• whether the company needs filing only, address provision, evidence-based reconstruction or continuing custody and maintenance.

The resulting scope records what is confirmed, what is supported by available evidence, what remains inconsistent and what cannot safely be reconstructed. This is where professional review adds value beyond form submission: it helps identify whether the proposed notification actually corresponds with the company's jurisdiction, records and evidence before the filing is treated as complete.

The Filing Instruments: AD02, AD03 and AD04

AD02 tells Companies House where the SAIL is. AD03 tells Companies House which applicable records are being kept there. That simple distinction is useful when you are preparing a SAIL arrangement: the address and the records are connected, but they are not the same thing. If no SAIL has previously been notified, the SAIL notification needs to accompany or precede the record-location notification under the applicable filing process.

Records already notified as being at the SAIL should not be repeated mechanically on a later AD03. If applicable records later return to the registered office, AD04 is the relevant record-location form. A later SAIL address change, addition or movement of records, or termination of an address service may require further filing work.

Companies House currently provides online and paper routes for these filings. Coddan can prepare and coordinate the appropriate route within the agreed scope, including support with submitting AD02 and AD03 online where that filing route is available. The important point is that professional support covers the preparation and coordination of the filing; Companies House remains responsible for processing it and may raise an enquiry or reject information that does not meet its requirements.

Official fee position: Companies House does not currently list a separate filing fee for AD02, AD03 or AD04. Coddan’s professional fee and any continuing address, custody or maintenance fee remain separate. The service therefore covers the professional preparation and filing work rather than presenting the Companies House filing itself as the whole compliance solution.

Company-Record Audit Before the Records Move

A notification is useful only if the company can identify the records, place them at the stated location and keep them available as required. Coddan’s audit connects the proposed SAIL to the records that exist in practice. This supports the practical requirement for making company registers available for public inspection rather than treating the filing as an end in itself.

The audit may compare the register of members, articles, membership applications, guarantee or admission evidence, board and member minutes, resolutions, certificates, correspondence and Companies House history. It also identifies records that belong to another workstream rather than treating every company document as a SAIL record.

What If Your Company Records Are Incomplete?

If your records are incomplete or inconsistent, the answer is not to fill the gaps with assumptions. Coddan can review the available evidence, compare it with the Companies House position, identify contradictions and establish what can safely be supported.

This can be particularly useful where a previous director kept the records, administration moved between addresses, the CLG changed directors, records are spread across several locations, the company is managed remotely, or a new administrator has inherited an incomplete file.

Coddan will not invent members, guarantors, officers, addresses, dates, resolutions or authority. An assumption will not be presented as a historical fact, and an AD03 filing will not be described as validating the contents of a register.

The deliverable may therefore contain:

• confirmed entries;
• entries supported by the available evidence;
• identified inconsistencies;
• unresolved gaps and missing source material;
• matters requiring a properly authorised director or member decision; and
• matters requiring legal, accounting, charity, CIC, property or another specialist’s advice.

A documented gap is safer than an invented appearance of completeness. Where full reconstruction is not possible, Coddan can provide the reconciled record together with an exception report defining what remains unresolved.

Which CLG Records May Be Maintained at the SAIL?

The applicable records depend on the company. Where permitted, the arrangement may include storing member and guarantor registers at a SAIL address, together with other applicable company records that the law allows to be kept there. The objective is to keep the address notification, record inventory and actual custody position synchronised rather than treating AD03 as a stand-alone declaration. They may include:

• the register of members and relevant historical membership information;
• records of board and member resolutions and supporting decision records;
• directors’ service contracts and directors’ indemnities;
• a register of debenture holders, where applicable;
• copies of instruments creating or amending charges, where applicable; and
• other company records that the law permits to be kept at the SAIL.

From 18 November 2025, companies are no longer required to maintain separate local registers of directors, directors’ usual residential addresses, secretaries or people with significant control (PSCs). That information must still be supplied to Companies House and kept current there. Coddan may review historical officer or PSC material as evidence, but does not sell reconstruction of those abolished local registers as a current statutory-register requirement.

The practical value of a SAIL is therefore not simply having an address on the public record. Where the company uses a SAIL, the applicable inspection records need to be genuinely maintained there and available as required. A professional record-location service can help the company establish what is covered, document the custody position and keep later address or record movements connected to the appropriate administrative route.

The register of members remains central to a CLG. It must be maintained by the company at its registered office or SAIL and made available for inspection as required. Companies that previously elected to keep member information on the central register must now create and maintain their own full register of members. A SAIL arrangement can therefore support the practical storage and inspection of member and guarantor records while the company retains responsibility for their accuracy and maintenance.

The Complete Coddan SAIL and Records Journey

1. Identify the company. Coddan confirms the CLG, its UK jurisdiction and its current registered office.
2. Establish the existing location. Coddan checks whether a SAIL is already recorded and where the applicable records are actually held.
3. Agree the address route. You supply a suitable SAIL or select an applicable Coddan address service.
4. Test the arrangement. Coddan checks the jurisdiction, inspection and practical custody position.
5. Identify and audit the records. Coddan establishes which records are relevant and reviews the available evidence.
6. Repair the record position where possible. Supportable entries are reconciled or reconstructed; unresolved gaps and contradictions are documented.
7. Confirm authority. The company supplies the decisions or authentication belonging to its authorised company representatives.
8. Prepare the filings. Coddan prepares or coordinates AD02 and AD03 through the applicable current route.
9. Manage the response. Copies are retained and Companies House enquiries or rejection are handled within the agreed scope.
10. Confirm the recorded position. Coddan records the SAIL and record-location outcome notified by Companies House.
11. Establish custody and inspection. The agreed records are transferred or created at the SAIL and practical inspection arrangements are put in place.
12. Maintain the connection. Later record updates, inspection requests, a change of SAIL, return to the registered office or termination of service are handled under the applicable continuing scope.

What the Company Receives

The completion record depends on the selected service level. The agreed scope identifies which of the following deliverables apply:

• a reviewed statement of the existing registered-office, SAIL and record-location position;
• the agreed address and filing route, including the records to be kept at the SAIL;
• copies of the applicable AD02, AD03 or later record-location filing and the Companies House outcome;
• an applicable company-record schedule and custody or transfer record;
• a reconciled or reconstructed register and supporting evidence schedule where that work was ordered;
• an exception report identifying evidence gaps, contradictions or decisions that remain unresolved;
• a record of any separately agreed corrective filing and its reported outcome; and
• where continuing service is selected, a schedule stating the records held, inspection process, update responsibilities, service period, renewal basis and termination arrangements.

A filing-only instruction does not automatically include address provision, reconstruction, inspection handling or continuing maintenance. The completion record makes clear what Coddan has delivered and what remains with the company or another adviser.

Keeping the Records at the SAIL: Custody, Inspection and Maintenance

Are the records actually available there?

A SAIL needs to be a real inspection location, not simply an address placed on a form. The applicable records need to be available there as required, and the custody arrangement needs to reflect what is actually held. This gives the company a defined administrative position rather than leaving the address notification disconnected from the records themselves.

What happens if someone asks to inspect the records?

Within an agreed managed service, Coddan records the request, checks its apparent form and entitlement, informs the company, coordinates access to or copies of the records held at the SAIL in accordance with the applicable requirements, and retains a handling record. The company supplies any decision or information that only it can provide. A disputed entitlement, injunction, threatened proceedings or demand extending beyond the records held is referred to the appropriate legal route.

How are the records kept current?

Coddan can maintain the records expressly included in the continuing service when the company supplies complete, timely and properly authorised information about later membership or governance events. Coddan records the update within scope and provides the applicable amended record or maintenance confirmation. The service does not transfer the company’s or directors’ legal responsibilities to Coddan. The value is continuity: where the agreed service includes later updates, the company has a defined administrative route for keeping the included record set current rather than having to rebuild the arrangement each time a supported change occurs.

Service period, renewal and termination

Before the continuing service is ordered, Coddan states the SAIL address and jurisdiction, records covered, service period, fee, renewal date and basis, included update and inspection work, information the company must supply, work charged separately, and the termination and handover arrangements. No automatic renewal or unlimited inspection or update work should be assumed unless the accepted order expressly says so. If the service ends or the records move, Coddan identifies the required handover and filing work; AD04 is used where applicable records return to the registered office.

CLG Membership, Property, Charity and CIC Considerations

Members and guarantors

A CLG’s records concern members and guarantors, not shareholders or share transfers merely because it is a registered company. Individual and corporate members, admission and cessation evidence, constitutional conditions and authorised decisions may affect the register-of-members audit.

RTM and property-related CLGs

For an RTM, resident-management or other property-related CLG, membership may be connected with flats, units or qualifying premises. Coddan can review the corporate records and supporting evidence, but the SAIL service does not decide leasehold entitlement, property rights or disputed membership. Managing-agent, contractor and property-management records may support the audit while remaining distinct from the company records notified through AD03.

Charitable companies

A SAIL filing at Companies House does not update the Charity Commission or another charity regulator automatically. Trustee, charity-record and restricted-property obligations remain separate and must be routed appropriately where they materially affect the work.

CICs limited by guarantee

This service can apply to a CIC formed as a company limited by guarantee. Not every CIC is a CLG. AD02 or AD03 does not change CIC status, replace the CIC report or alter asset-lock responsibilities.

When the Audit Finds an Unfiled or Incorrect Change

An internal record and the Companies House filing history should not be forced to agree by inventing an event or date. Coddan follows a controlled correction road:

1. Identify the difference. Coddan records what the internal evidence and public filing history each show.
2. Test the underlying event. The articles, minutes, resolutions, consents and other reliable evidence are reviewed to establish whether an appointment, cessation, change or decision was properly made.
3. Classify the work. Coddan distinguishes an internal record update from a Companies House notification or correction, and separates either from a disputed or specialist legal matter.
4. Confirm company authority. The authorised company representative supplies any required approval, authentication or present-day decision belonging to the company.
5. Prepare the corrective route. Where included or separately agreed, Coddan prepares or coordinates the applicable officer, company-details, Confirmation Statement or other filing and deals with a routine Companies House enquiry.
6. Reconcile the outcome. Coddan records the Companies House response, updates the supported internal record and identifies any residual gap or separate professional work.

A later filing does not by itself prove or retrospectively authorise the underlying event. Where the evidence cannot establish the event, or membership or governance is disputed, Coddan documents the limitation and routes the matter appropriately rather than manufacturing a complete history.

After Companies House Records the Filing: Keeping the Arrangement Aligned

Coddan checks the recorded SAIL and record-location position, retains the filing outcome and completes the agreed record-transfer or custody work. This post-filing check helps keep the Companies House position and the company’s actual record location aligned. The service therefore does not treat submission as the end of the task: the company still needs the notified records to exist at the stated location, and later changes may require a further administrative or filing step. If Companies House raises an enquiry or rejects a filing, Coddan reviews the reason, corrects matters within the agreed scope and identifies any new decision or evidence required from the company.

If an inconsistency also requires annual company information to be corrected or confirmed, the appropriate CLG Confirmation Statement filing service may form a separate workstream. The SAIL filing itself does not correct unrelated company information.

A later SAIL change, movement of additional records, return of records to the registered office or termination of a Coddan address service must be completed through the correct filing and custody route rather than leaving the public record and actual location disconnected.

What Affects the Service Scope and Price?

The appropriate scope depends on the work remaining, including:

• whether a SAIL already exists and whether you or Coddan supplies it;
• whether a separate registered-office service is required;
• the company’s jurisdiction and present filing position;
• the number, type and condition of the applicable records;
• the completeness of the register of members and available historical evidence;
• the inconsistencies requiring investigation or an exception report;
• any Companies House enquiry or rejection;
• any legal, accounting, tax, charity, CIC, leasehold or property issue requiring another professional; and
• whether continuing record custody, maintenance and inspection support are required.

No address subscription, inspection work, reconstruction result or continuing service is included automatically. Before payment, the order or written scope must identify the one-off work, any recurring SAIL or custody service, its service period and renewal basis, included inspection and update work, and the circumstances in which an additional fee requires separate agreement.

Support for International Professional Partners

International accountants, formation agents and other corporate-service providers can instruct Coddan where their client has an appropriate company authority and the required information, approvals and evidence can be supplied. The purpose is to give the referring professional a defined route for the agreed SAIL, record-location or company-secretarial work without transferring the client’s statutory responsibilities.

Corresponding Support for Other UK Entities

Coddan’s underlying address, filing and evidence-based record-reconciliation capability is not confined to CLGs. Corresponding work may be available for other UK companies and, where the law and relevant forms permit, other entity types. This page remains the specialist destination for CLG members, guarantors, governance records and SAIL arrangements; limited companies by shares and limited liability partnerships require their own terminology, records and filing routes.

Professional and Regulatory Boundaries

Coddan provides company-secretarial, corporate-administration, address, record-reconstruction and maintenance work within the agreed service scope. As an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), Coddan can support address management, filing preparation and the applicable Companies House submission process; that status does not transfer the company’s statutory responsibilities or make Coddan the decision-maker for the company. Coddan does not replace the directors, determine disputed membership or property rights, invent missing authority, or make decisions belonging to Companies House, a court, a regulator, a creditor or another professional adviser.

Coddan CPM Limited, company number 05370296, appears in His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)’s supervised-business register under money-laundering registration number XGML00000129022 and in Companies House’s published list as CODDAN CPM LIMITED ACSP. HMRC supervision for anti-money-laundering purposes as a Trust or Company Service Provider (TCSP) is distinct from registration with Companies House as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).

These official records evidence the stated supervision and registration; neither amounts to government endorsement, recommendation or approval of this service. ACSP registration does not give Coddan power to approve a SAIL, validate disputed company records or make a Companies House decision.

• Check HMRC’s supervised-business register.
• Check the Companies House list of published ACSPs.
• View Coddan CPM Limited’s Companies House record.
• Return to the CLG company-secretarial-services hub.

Useful Official Sources

• Companies House: notify a SAIL address using AD02
• Companies House: move records to a SAIL using AD03
• Companies House: return records to the registered office using AD04
• Companies House: current statutory fees
• Companies House: changes to company registers
• GOV.UK: company and accounting records

CLG SAIL and Company-Record Service Questions

Does every CLG need a SAIL?

No. A SAIL is optional. A CLG may keep its applicable inspection records at its registered office. A separate SAIL is useful only where it creates a workable and compliant record-location arrangement for that company.

Can the CLG use its own SAIL address?

Yes, if the proposed address is in the same UK jurisdiction as the company and provides a workable location for the applicable inspection records. Coddan can review the arrangement and complete the filing work. Where the company needs a managed alternative inspection location, a SAIL address service can also be considered for remote founders who do not want inspection records maintained at a home address.

Does a SAIL replace the registered office?

No. The registered office remains the official address for statutory communications. The SAIL is an alternative inspection location for specified company records.

What is the difference between AD02 and AD03?

AD02 notifies the SAIL address. AD03 identifies the applicable records kept there. The existing Companies House record determines whether one or both filings are required.

Can some records remain at the registered office while others are kept at the SAIL?

Yes, where the current rules permit those record types to be kept at the SAIL. However, all records of the same type must be kept together at one notified location. Coddan’s record schedule identifies what remains at the registered office and what moves to the SAIL.

Can Coddan reconstruct an incomplete register of members?

Coddan can reconstruct or reconcile entries supported by sufficiently reliable evidence. Unsupported facts will not be invented, and unresolved gaps will be documented.

Can Coddan keep and maintain the records at its SAIL?

Yes, where the applicable continuing SAIL, custody and maintenance service is agreed. The service scope identifies the records held, the information the company must supply, inspection arrangements, renewal terms and what happens when the service ends.

What happens if records return to the registered office?

The actual custody and Companies House record must be kept aligned. AD04 is used to identify applicable records returned to the registered office.

Can an RTM, charitable company or CIC limited by guarantee use the service?

Potentially, yes. Coddan first reviews the organisation’s particular membership, governance, inspection and regulatory position. Separate property, charity or CIC work is scoped or routed where required.

Start with the Company’s Actual Address and Record Position

Tell Coddan the company name or number and where things stand now: whether you already have a SAIL, need a suitable address, want to keep the registered office and inspection location separate, or have records that need reviewing. Do not attach confidential registers or personal information to the initial enquiry. If you are unsure which records should be at the SAIL, or your records are spread across several locations, that is exactly the kind of uncertainty the review is designed to identify.

Coddan will confirm the proposed work, authority, charges, payment point and controlled document-collection process. You then confirm and pay for the agreed scope before the substantive review begins. The aim is to start with your company's actual position — its address, jurisdiction, records and available evidence — rather than assuming that every CLG needs the same filing or custody arrangement.

Request a SAIL and records scope review