What is a Registered Office Address in the UK?

A Registered Office Address is where a company (e.g. ABC Ltd) receives its official correspondence from Companies House (UK governmental agency) and HMRC (UK government tax office).

If you're a limited company (Ltd or Limited), LLP, PLC, Inc. and so on, you will need an official company address. This address is termed 'Registered Office Address'.

The address will be part of the public registry of the Companies House.

This is something to keep in mind if using a personal residence as a registered address. Additionally, UK rules stipulate that this address must be displayed as the address on the company letterhead (on the footer). This letterhead is required for all official correspondence.

Some businesses prefer to get a registered address through a companies service provider who provide this service. All addresses provided by companies service providers (such as ourselves) must be authorised to be used as Registered Office Addresses (our license).

Note that PO Boxes (provided by Royal Mail) cannot be used as your Registered Office Address.

Additionally, packages cannot be received or sent from a P.O. Box. For this reason, many companies prefer to get an address through a registered address provider. You can use a PO Box, if it is used in conjunction with the registered address.

Registered companies shareholders (commonly referred to as subscribers) do not have to be residents of the UK. Furthermore, your registered address does not have to be the same address where you conduct day to day business. It will serve as the address to receive and send official correspondence. If you use your personal residence for this purpose, your local authority may not allow business to be conducted on the premises.

In addition to Companies House, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) requires many forms for businesses to fill out, most of which require a registered business address.