Registered Office and Service Address: What’s the Difference?

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.