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Virtual Office

Work From Anywhere, but Still Hold the Prestige of a London Office,

Our virtual office service allows you to base your business anywhere in the world, but retain a UK address for clients and suppliers.

Virtual Office Services Include the Following:

  • No Set-Up Fees

  • Mail Forwarding- we collect and scan all your correspondence on your behalf, eliminating hours of admin time for you

  • Telephone Answering- Our live telephone service keeps you in touch 24/7

  • Email or SMS- You can choose how you'd like to receive your calls

  • Meeting Room Facilities- Our state-of-the-art meeting rooms are available anytime for you to take a meeting at your central London address

  • Fax Forwarding - Our fax forwarding service emails you any number of faxes sent to your fax number, 24/7

  • Stationery - Your UK mail-forwarding address and telephone answering number can be used on all your business stationery

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Proof of ID

We have a legal obligation to check Proof of ID and Proof of Address. This is to ensure we comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) requirements. Please check our FAQs to see which documents we can accept.

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Proof of ID

We have a legal obligation to check Proof of ID and Proof of Address. This is to ensure we comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) requirements. Please check our FAQs to see which documents we can accept.

Our Frequently Asked Questions

On the right, you will find the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

If you still can't find the answer to your question, why not try our virtual assistant?

View all FAQs

We're Here To Help

Still have questions? Call us on 020 7608 5500 or contact us and our team will assist you. 

What's the difference?

We offer a mail forwarding service for UK and overseas (including PO Box addresses) customers in both our Registered Office and Virtual Office services. However, there is a difference in the type of mail that is forwarded for each service.

 

Registered Office Mail Forwarding

  • Is the receiving and forwarding of official mail (from particular Governing bodies) to you via scan - take a look at what is classified as official mail.
  • Does not include the receiving or forwarding of business/personal mail. For example, letters from your bank, customers, suppliers, etc. Therefore, you would need a Virtual Office service for this or you can provide an alternative address.

 

Virtual Office Mail Forwarding

  • Includes the receiving and forwarding of all business/personal mail to you. For example, letters from your bank, customers, suppliers, etc.
  • Can be used for marketing or advertising for your company. For example, if you currently have our virtual office service, the address can be on your website, business cards, email, etc.
  • Does not allow the authority to use the address as your company's registered office. Therefore, you would need a Registered Office service for this.
  • Does not include the receiving or forwarding of official mail. You would need a Registered Office service for this.

You will be notified via email if we receive any post for you that is included within your service. When you use our address as the registered office of your company, your company's Government mail will arrive at our address. We will then scan this across to you within 1 working day using our Digital Mailroom to the email address linked to your account with us on Companies Made Simple. 

You can also view a history of received letters through your Registered Office service in your Company Inbox. 

  • Your mail is delivered to our office by Royal Mail and courier. 
  • Once received, our post team sort the mail into categories in preparation for scanning. 
  • We use an industrial letter opener machine which opens 100s of letters per minute. 
  • The stacks of opened letters are then placed into the scanner, where the system matches the name against our database and sends the item to you. 
  • Where the system is not sure about a match it will defer to human analysis of the name and address. 
  • We store each physical batch for 7 days in case you require the original forwarded on. 
  • We employ a secure shredding company to destroy the physical items after this time.

The Registered Office service covers you for your Government mail*. 

*Government mail includes mail from UK governing bodies/ departments such as Companies House, HMRC, Government Gateway and the Intellectual Property Office that specifically relates to the administration of your business. A full list of accepted mail through the Registered Office service can be found on the following link:

What Post can I receive with my Registered Office Service?

If you are interested in a mail forwarding service where all your items of business mail get forwarded to you, our company Virtual Office MadeSimple can provide this service.

The Registered Office service allows you to receive "Official Government" mail. 

All limited companies have the ability to update where their Registered Office is located. This can be done at any time during the lifespan of the business. 

However, the Registered Office can only be updated to a location within the country they are registered in. This (at this moment in time) cannot be changed. Please see the table below for a visual explanation. 

Registered Office Location
(At Time of Formation)

 Country Registered In Can Update Address To Any Address Within
England England and Wales England and Wales
Scotland Scotland Scotland
Wales Wales Wales
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland

Our service is therefore available to anybody that is thinking about registering a company in England (& Wales) or already has a limited company registered in England. 

A Registered Office is required for all UK Limited Companies.  

The Registered Office address will:

  • Appear on the public register at Companies House for all to view. 
  • Be sent Government mail* to this address and must be obtainable by the company.
  • Keep statutory registers here unless a SAIL address is provided.

Our Registered Office Service can be used in order to protect the privacy of your home address.

*Please click on the link to see the list of accepted documents.

For more information please see What is a Registered Office?

Yes! We offer our Registered Office service within the majority of our formation packages. Bundled together with a discounted fee, check it out here!

Yes, you can change the address of your Registered Office at any time after setting up a company, but it must always remain within the same country. If you change your Registered Office address, you must notify Companies House immediately and take steps to ensure all business stationery, correspondence and your company website clearly display the new Registered Office address.

Yes, you can use our Registered Office address as your service (correspondence) address. If you are a company director, secretary, person of significant control or shareholder and wish to keep your residential address private, the purchase of the Registered Office address service allows you to to do just that!

The people that are required to provide ID will be the account holder, the director's and the People with Significant Control (PSCs). This is line with legislation that everyone considered having significant influence or control over a company and thus are the important decision makers will need to be ID checked. 

Companies House will be enforcing this as of Late 2023 through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. 

All officers of a company must be ID verified prior to an application (or request) being sent across to Companies House for approval.

With the help of Credas' digital ID software, our free online ID check is very simple to complete. You will just require:

  • Government-issued photo ID, i.e. passport or driving licence (not expired)
  • Proof of residential address issued with the last 3 months / annual statement, i.e. bank statement, utility bill, etc
  • A device with the ability to take a live selfie such as a webcam or camera phone.

During the online ID verification, Credas' facial recognition technology will check if you are present and determine whether your face (selfie) matches the photo on your ID.

For a full guide please visit Proof of ID and Address Requirements [Comprehensive Guide].

We have a number of different articles available to assist you with troubleshooting any problems you may have. Please view them on the following link:

ID Troubleshooting

Any other queries or assistance required, please contact our ID Compliance team at [email protected].

 

  • Select ‘I need to verify ID for someone else'.
  • Enter the email address of the officer being verified and click the Send validation link button.
  • An email with the validation link has now been sent to the officer’s email address. The officer must open the link and follow the on-screen instructions to verify their identity.

For a full walkthrough please visit here. 

We will be unable to activate or provide any services to customers (or companies) unable to complete our ID checks.