On this page
- 1. Your home stays off the public register
- 2. A credible address for a few pounds a month
- 3. Your mail, handled for you
- 4. Freedom to move without changing your address
- 5. It scales with you
- Virtual office benefits have limits
- What to check before you choose a provider
- Is a virtual office right for you?
- Get a London business address
More and more small businesses run without an office of their own, and many of them still use an office address. That is the idea behind a virtual office: an official business address and mail handling, without the rent. This guide sets out the main virtual office benefits, the limits to be aware of, and what to check before you choose a provider.
1. Your home stays off the public register
Every company's registered office is published on the Companies House register, free for anyone to search, and it stays visible in the company's filing history. Directors must also give a service address, which is published. If you use your home for either, your home address is there for customers, competitors and anyone else to find.
A virtual office gives you a registered office address and a service address that are not your home. Your residential address is still given to Companies House, as the law requires, but it is kept off the public record.
2. A credible address for a few pounds a month
An address in a recognised business area tells clients, suppliers and lenders that the business is established. Renting an office there costs thousands a year in rent, business rates and service charges, usually on a lease of several years. A virtual office gives you the address for a small monthly fee, with nothing to fit out and no lease to sign.
3. Your mail, handled for you
Official letters from Companies House, HMRC and the courts go to your registered office, and missing one can mean a missed deadline or a penalty. With a virtual office, letters are received for you, scanned and sent to you by email, so you can read them wherever you are. Junk mail stays out of your home letterbox.
4. Freedom to move without changing your address
If you move house, change workspace or spend time abroad, your official address does not have to change. That means no updates to Companies House, letterheads, your website or your customers' records each time you move. For a business run by someone outside the UK, a virtual office is often the simplest way to have the UK address a company needs.
5. It scales with you
A virtual office suits a one-person company and a remote team alike. As you grow, you can add services, such as a director service address for a new director, or keep the virtual address as your registered office while renting workspace by the day when you need it. Our comparison of virtual and physical offices covers how businesses combine the two.
Virtual office benefits have limits
A virtual office is an address, not a workplace, and a few rules follow from that.
- VAT. HMRC needs your principal place of business, the place the business is actually run from, when you register for VAT. If that is your home, you give your home address there.
- Banks. Some banks ask for a trading address or a director's home address as well as the registered office. Have both ready.
- Licences. If your work needs premises, such as food, alcohol or some regulated services, a virtual office does not replace them.
- Appropriate address. Since March 2024 the registered office must be an address where post is received and can be acknowledged. A genuine virtual office meets this; a PO box on its own does not.
What to check before you choose a provider
- Anti-money laundering supervision. Providers of registered office addresses must be supervised for money laundering, usually by HMRC. A provider that does not check your identity is not following the rules.
- What is included. Is it the registered office only, or a director service address and business mail too? Are letters scanned or posted, and how quickly?
- Clear pricing. Look for one monthly or yearly price, with any forwarding or postage charges shown up front.
- The address itself. Check the address is in the right part of the UK for your company, and that it is not shared with thousands of businesses in a way that hurts how it looks.
- Leaving. Find out the notice period and what happens to your mail if you move on.
Is a virtual office right for you?
If you work from home, run your company from abroad or simply want to keep your private address private, a virtual office is one of the cheapest and quickest improvements you can make. If customers visit you or your work needs premises, you will still need a physical space, but a virtual address can sit alongside it.
Get a London business address
Our virtual office gives you a London registered office address from £4.99 a month, or £47.90 a year, with a director service address and same-day mail scanning available. We file the change of address with Companies House for you. Starting a new company? Add it when you form your company.
