Recent changes to the registered office addresses rules mean that companies must have an ‘appropriate address’ as their registered office or face fines of up to £1,000
The address you register must be:
- a physical address in the UK
- in the same country your company is registered in, for example a company registered in Scotland must have a registered office address in Scotland
The address must also be ‘appropriate’. This means that:
- you or someone acting on behalf of your company will be made aware of any post addressed and delivered to your company
- when your company receives post at this address, it’s possible for the sender to get confirmation of delivery
You can no longer use a PO Box as your registered office address.
If you use a service provider’s address (for example, an accountant or solicitor) as your registered office address, this address must meet all of these requirements.
Your company could be struck off the Companies House register if you do not provide a registered office address that meets all of these requirements.
While the rules affect new registrants, Companies House will also be taking steps to clean up the register, using data matching to identify and remove inaccurate information.