It is an important requirement of UK company law that all companies have a company-registered address. A business cannot legally function until they obtain one of these. The address must also itself be in the UK, regardless of where the actual business headquarters is located. The registered office must have someone present at all times to deal with any important mail that comes to the office – be it mail from the Inland Revenue, from courts, or from another important business related organisation.  It is not appropriate to merely let the mail build up without taking care of it.

Important governmental organisations as well as others (for example courts) will want to send mail to your registered office concerning things such as feedback on VAT returns, payrolls and so on. As such you can clearly see the importance of a reliable registered office. Without one, your company is not just breaking the law, but also is providing a disservice to itself. When organisations send mail to this address, they will automatically assume that whatever was being sent has safely arrived and now is in the hands of the business it is meant for. You may also find that members of the general public take an interest in the company registration address, for matters such as viewing legally available documents about your business. For example shareholders or potential investors may want to know how well your company is doing so they know whether or not to take their interest any further.

It is important for you to understand that absolutely no trading or actual business has to be done from your registered office.  It is merely a place to receive mail and process it. You are more than welcome to operate your business from an entirely different point in the UK or even the world. For some though, the home address and limited company registration address are the same.

This is clearly not possible though for all businesses. The home address may not be a suitable one for a registered office simply because the company director does not wish his address to go on records. Or perhaps the director’s property lease does not allow for it to be used as a registered address. Even more fundamentally, a company may not own a UK property.

NLI gives you the opportunity to use them as your registered office. The fee, as with all other services, is very low – only £35 per year. This is much lower than other offers online and offline companies.