UK Business Address
Guides & News

The Problem: Your Home Address Is Public

When you register a UK limited company, your residential address is filed as your service address and appears on the public Companies House register. Anyone can search for it — customers, competitors, or strangers.

The Solution: A Service Address

Under the Companies Act 2006, every director can use a "service address" — a separate correspondence address that appears on the public register instead of your home. This is completely legal and used by the majority of UK company directors.

How to Change It

• Log in to Companies House WebFiling
• File a CH01 form to update your service address
• Your home address remains on file privately but is no longer publicly searchable

No Legal Requirement — But Strong Practical Reasons

Unlike limited companies, sole traders are not required to register an official business address. However, HMRC correspondence, client invoices, and your website all need an address. Using your home address means it appears on every invoice, your website, and potentially on the ICO register if you handle personal data.

Why Sole Traders Use a Virtual Address

• Privacy — keep your home address off invoices, your website, and the ICO register
• Professionalism — a business centre address carries more weight than a residential one
• Mail handling — have business post scanned and forwarded so it doesn't mix with personal mail
• HMRC correspondence — direct Self Assessment and VAT letters to your business address

Two Different Things

A virtual address is a general business correspondence address — you use it on your website, invoices, business cards, and letterheads. A registered office is a specific legal requirement for UK limited companies: the official address filed with Companies House where statutory mail is delivered.

Which Do You Need?

• Sole traders — a virtual address is usually sufficient. You have no Companies House filing requirement.
• Limited companies — you need a registered office (legally required). You may also want a virtual address if you want a different correspondence address on your website.
• Both — many directors use the same address for both, which simplifies everything.

Yes — If You Update Your Records

HMRC will send correspondence to whatever address you have registered with them. If you want tax letters to go to your virtual address, you need to update your business tax account. HMRC does not automatically use your Companies House registered office.

What to Update

• Corporation Tax — update via your HMRC business tax account or by calling the CT helpline
• VAT — update your principal place of business in your VAT online account
• PAYE — update your employer address in your PAYE for employers account
• Self Assessment — update via your personal tax account (sole traders)

What Mail to Expect

Corporation tax notices, VAT returns and reminders, PAYE coding notices, annual tax summaries, and any compliance correspondence. With Forward My Mail, all HMRC letters are scanned and sent to you digitally on the same day they arrive.

What Changed

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced mandatory identity verification for all company directors, people with significant control (PSCs), and anyone filing on behalf of a company. This is being phased in from 2025.

Who Needs to Verify

• All new directors at the point of appointment
• All existing directors — during a transition period
• People with Significant Control (PSCs)
• Anyone filing documents with Companies House

How It Works

You can verify directly with Companies House online using a UK passport or driving licence, or through an authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). The process takes a few minutes and only needs to be done once.

Non-Residents Can Form UK Companies

There is no requirement for a UK company director to be a UK resident. Thousands of overseas entrepreneurs register UK limited companies each year. You do not need a UK visa, work permit, or National Insurance number to be a director.

What You Do Need

• A UK registered office address — required by law; must be a physical address in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland
• A UK director service address — to keep your overseas home address off the public register
• Identity verification — now mandatory under the 2023 Act
• A UK business bank account — some banks require a UK address; a virtual address can help with this

The Process

• Choose a registered office address (Forward My Mail provides this)
• Incorporate your company via Companies House or a formation agent
• Register for Corporation Tax with HMRC within 3 months
• Open a UK business bank account