Anyone perusing our company registration packages will come across the terms Registered Office and Service Address. So what on earth are these and what’s the difference?
The Registered Office
- This is the official address for a UK limited company. As that suggests, it must be based in the UK.
- The company does not need to be based here but the directors must be contactable (via mail) from this address.
- The Registered Office can be changed post-company formation (officers must still be contactable via mail from the new address) but the address must stay in the country of incorporation, for example, a company formed in England/Wales must stay in England/Wales, a company formed in Scotland must stay in Scotland and a company formed in Northern Ireland must stay in Northern Ireland.
- The Registered Office is on the public register.
The Service Address
- This is the official address of the company director/s. It can be based anywhere in the world.
- Once again, the directors do not need to be based at the address; they just need to be contactable (via mail) from the address.
- The Service Address can be changed post-company formation to another address (directors must still be contactable via mail).
- The Service Address is on the public register.
If you have any questions about the Registered Office or Service Address see the links or leave a comment below and we’ll be in touch.
This post was brought to you by Mathew Aitken at Companies Made Simple – The Simplest Company Formation Service
Keep up to date. Subscribe to our RSS