Do You Really Want Your Creditors and Customers to Know Where You Live?

Companies that trade in the UK need to have a registered address for them to be able to operate. Many business owners opt for using their own home address, but, as this registered office address appears on public records, it can lead to some unfortunate privacy issues. In addition, it may not be possible if you are renting a property, because your landlord may simply not allow you to list it as your registered office.

Whatever the case, using your home address as that of your registered office means it legally has to appear on your private company website, making your personal life very visible and therefore vulnerable to invasion by customers and all other members of the public.

A danger is that deliveries of supplies may be made to your home, and aggravated callers will know on which doorstep to make their grievance felt. Because your limited company's name and registered address is recorded at Companies House as a publicly available record it means that anyone can look it up.

The address of your registered office is a badge that says a good deal about your business, its reputation, and what image it seeks to portray. For a company to generate a professional air, instilling confidence in clients, something more than a home address is required. Nor can a registered office address be a Post Office (PO) Box number. It has to be a full postal address.

At Coddan, as well as organising the registration of companies, the team also acts as a registered office address provider in London (Baker Street), Liverpool, Manchester, Scotland (Edinburgh), and Northern Ireland (Belfast). Companies House, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC), and other authorities use the registered office address of your limited company to send official documents, and they therefore assume such documents have been received by the company directors.

By using Coddan's registered office address service enables Coddan to deal with any correspondence sent from Companies House and HMRC, processing it immediately, and alerting you to anything urgent by telephone or email. Although routine, dealing with business correspondence is an important part of running a successful business. In addition, your company is required to hold its official company documents - its register of shareholders, and its constitutional documents - at its registered office address.