Registered office

Every UK company must maintain a registered office address, and that address is on the public record. It is the address to which Companies House, HMRC and the courts send official correspondence, and where legal documents can be formally served. It must be a real, physical address in the same jurisdiction the company is registered in (an England-and-Wales company needs an England-or-Wales registered office).

The registered office is not necessarily where the business trades or where its people work. Many companies use their accountant’s or a formation agent’s address as the registered office, which is why thousands of companies can share a single address. It is a legal contact point, not a place of business.

Since 2024, Companies House rules require the registered office to be an “appropriate address” — one where a document delivered there would come to the attention of someone acting for the company, and where delivery can be acknowledged. PO boxes alone are no longer sufficient.

Example

A one-person consultancy trading from home might use its accountant’s office as its registered office to keep the owner’s home address off the public record, while actually working from somewhere else entirely.

On Company Shark

Company profiles show the registered office and, where useful, group companies by locality and postcode area so you can find businesses registered in a particular place — while remembering that the registered office may differ from the trading address.

Related

• Companies House
• Company number
• Person with significant control (PSC)