Every UK limited company needs an official address on the public register, and a registered office address service is how most founders supply one without handing Companies House the address of their spare room. Buy the service, use the provider’s building as your company’s official address, and your home stays off a database that anyone in the world can search for free. This guide covers the Companies House rules a registered office address service has to satisfy, what the market charges, how the address differs from a director’s service address, and where Wezoo lists addresses across the UK.
If you are still weighing up the wider product, our complete guide to virtual offices explains how the address sits alongside mail handling, call answering and on-demand meeting rooms. This article stays narrow: the rules, the cost, and the choosing.
Wezoo snapshot — UK registered office address service listings
- 645 virtual office locations listed across the United Kingdom
- Coverage in all four jurisdictions: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Busiest cities: London (266), Leeds (22), Manchester (21), Birmingham (16), Bristol (11)
- Most-listed operators: Regus (218 locations), Fora (62), Spaces (59)
- Price: quoted on request — providers do not publish a public rate card
Source: Wezoo listings, July 2026.
Browse all virtual offices in the United Kingdom: View UK addresses →
What a registered office address service actually gives you
A registered office address service is a paid arrangement in which a provider lets you use their building as your company’s official Companies House address, then receives and forwards the statutory post that arrives there. We covered the term itself in our explainer on what is a registered office address — this piece is about buying one.
Three things come with a serious provider. A physical building you have written permission to use. A staffed reception that signs for post, so delivery can be confirmed. And a forwarding route — scanned to email, posted on, or held for collection — for anything Companies House or HMRC sends you.
What it is not: a mailbox. A registered office is a legal address, not a delivery convenience, and the rules below are the reason the two are not interchangeable.
What are the Companies House rules for a registered office address?
The rules are short and unforgiving. Get them wrong and your company can be struck off the register. Every address you register — whether you own it or rent it through a service — must meet all of the following, per GOV.UK guidance on registered office addresses:
- A physical address in the UK. PO Boxes are not allowed, and neither are box-only services from private operators.
- The same country your company is registered in. A Scottish company needs a Scottish registered office; a Northern Irish company needs one in Northern Ireland. This is the rule founders trip over most.
- An “appropriate” address. Someone acting for your company is made aware of post delivered there, and the sender can obtain confirmation of delivery. A locked, unstaffed door fails.
- Permission to use it from the accountant, solicitor or workspace operator whose address it is.
- In place before you incorporate. You cannot register first and find an address later.
- Public. Your registered office is visible to anyone, worldwide, free of charge.
Source: Companies House guidance, GOV.UK.
One more requirement that catches people out: since 2024 you also have to give Companies House a registered email address. That one is not published on the public register, and Companies House uses it to contact you.
Registered office vs service address vs business address
This is the single most-asked question about the product, and the three terms are not synonyms. A registered office belongs to the company. A service address belongs to a person — a director, secretary or person with significant control. A trading or business address is where you actually do the work, and Companies House has no view on it at all.
| Registered office address | Director’s service address | Business (trading) address | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belongs to | The company | A named officer or PSC | The business operation |
| Legally required? | Yes — every UK company | Yes — for each director, secretary and PSC | No |
| On the public register? | Yes | Yes | No |
| Same-country rule? | Yes — must match jurisdiction of incorporation | No — can be anywhere | No |
| Receives | Companies House and HMRC statutory post, legal notices | Correspondence addressed to that person | Customers, couriers, suppliers |
| PO Box allowed? | No | No | Not applicable |
Source: Companies House, “Your personal information on the Companies House register”, GOV.UK.
Most providers sell the two as separate line items, and most founders need both. If only the company address is covered, your home address still appears against your own name as a director. Cover the company and leave yourself exposed, and you have solved half the problem.
Why founders pay for an address instead of using home
Because the register never forgets. Your company’s registered office is published on the Companies House register, indexed by search engines, and copied by third-party data brokers Companies House has no control over. It stays there for the life of the company, and for 20 years after the company is dissolved.
You can apply to suppress a home address later. It is a form, a fee, and a wait — and it will not claw the address back from the dozens of company-data sites that already scraped it. Deciding once, before incorporation, is cheaper than unpicking it afterwards.
The other reason is duller and just as real: credibility. A supplier running a credit check on a Companies House record sees the address. A City postcode reads differently from a residential street in a commuter town. That is not vanity — it is the first fact anyone learns about your company.
What does a registered office address service cost in the UK?
UK providers advertise registered office packages in a wide band, and the headline number is rarely the number you pay. Rates observed across UK provider listings in July 2026 sit roughly between £22 and £85 per year for the company address alone, with London postcodes clustering at the top of that range and regional addresses at the bottom. Wezoo’s operator partners do not publish a public rate card — the address is quoted on request, which is why you will not see a price on the listings below.
What moves the price:
- Postcode. A central London EC or W1 address costs a multiple of a business-park address in the Midlands.
- Whether the director’s service address is bundled. Often a separate charge of a similar size.
- Mail handling. Statutory post only (cheapest), all business post scanned to email, or physical forwarding with postage recharged.
- Term. Annual prepay is usually well below the twelve-times monthly rate.
- Bundling with workspace. If you also take desks or meeting rooms in the building, the address is frequently discounted or included.
Cost ranges above are external market rates observed in UK provider listings, not Wezoo prices.
Weigh it against the alternative honestly. The service costs less per year than one hour of solicitor’s time. Removing a leaked home address costs considerably more than that — in fees, in forms, and in the sleep you lose over it.
How to choose a registered office address service
Six checks on any registered office address service, in order of how badly they hurt if you skip them.
- Jurisdiction first. Match the address to where the company is incorporated. Nothing else matters if this is wrong.
- Confirm the building is staffed. The “appropriate address” test requires that delivery can be confirmed. Ask who signs for post.
- Get the permission in writing. You will be asked to certify you have it.
- Check what happens to non-statutory post. Some providers forward only Companies House and HMRC mail and bin the rest.
- Ask whether the director’s service address is included. If not, price it as a second line.
- Check you can walk in. A building you can visit beats a name on a letterhead. If you also need a physical footprint, a business address service with bookable space in the same building solves both at once.
Checklist compiled from Companies House requirements and Wezoo operator listings.
Where to find a registered office address service in the UK
Wezoo lists 645 virtual office locations across the United Kingdom, from every major operator, in all four jurisdictions. Because the same-country rule is the one that voids an address, the four listings below are picked one per UK nation. If your company is registered in London and you want the capital specifically, our guide to the business address service in London goes postcode by postcode.
England — 50 Liverpool Street, London (Fora)
An EC2M postcode sixty seconds from Liverpool Street station, in the square mile where your counterparties’ banks and law firms already sit. Fora rates 4.2 out of 5 across 500-plus reviews, and the building runs a full reception — which is exactly what the “appropriate address” test wants to see. Suitable for companies incorporated in England and Wales.
Request 50 Liverpool Street on Wezoo
Scotland — 93 George Street, Edinburgh (Regus)
A company registered in Scotland needs a Scottish registered office — an English address will not do, however grand. 93 George Street sits in Edinburgh’s New Town, an EH2 postcode in the middle of the city’s financial district, with Regus reception staff on site. Regus rates 4.4 out of 5 and is the most-listed operator in the UK, with 218 locations on Wezoo.
Request 93 George Street on Wezoo
Wales — Clockwise Cardiff (Clockwise)
Companies incorporated in England and Wales can register at either, and Cardiff is the practical choice for a Welsh-facing business. Clockwise on Fitzalan Road holds a 4.7 out of 5 rating — the highest of the four here — with a staffed front desk and meeting rooms you can book by the hour when a client wants to see a room rather than a letterhead.
Request Clockwise Cardiff on Wezoo
Northern Ireland — Pearl Assurance House, Belfast (Signature)
Northern Ireland is its own jurisdiction, and a company registered there must hold a Northern Irish address. Pearl Assurance House stands on Donegall Square East, directly opposite Belfast City Hall — a BT1 postcode about as central as the city gets. Signature rates 4.5 out of 5.
Request Pearl Assurance House on Wezoo
Ready to set up your virtual office in the United Kingdom?
Frequently asked questions
Is a registered office address service legal in the UK?
Yes. Companies House explicitly points founders who do not want their home address published towards service providers and formation agents. The address simply has to meet the “appropriate address” test and sit in the correct jurisdiction.
Can I use a registered office address service for a company registered in Scotland?
Only if the address itself is in Scotland. The registered office must be in the same country the company is registered in, so a Scottish company needs a Scottish address and a Northern Irish company needs one in Northern Ireland.
Does a registered office address service hide my home address completely?
It keeps your home address off the company’s public record — provided you also use a non-residential service address for yourself as a director. If you use the service for the company but give your home as your director’s service address, your home is still published.
Can I use a PO Box as my registered office?
No. Royal Mail PO Boxes, and equivalent box-only services from other companies, are not accepted as registered office addresses.
How quickly can I change my registered office address?
You file form AD01 with Companies House, usually online, and the change takes effect once it is registered. The old address stays visible in the company’s filing history.
The address you register is the first fact anyone learns about your company
Make it a decision, not an accident. A registered office address service costs less than a tank of fuel per year and keeps a permanent, worldwide-searchable record pointed at a staffed building instead of your front door. Match the jurisdiction, confirm the building is staffed, cover the director’s service address as well as the company’s, and the rest is admin.
Wezoo lists 645 UK addresses across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — compare them in one place and request the one that fits your company.
