Anyone who’s ever moved house knows there’s a long list of people you need to notify, and it’s the same for a change of address in your limited company.

As well as letting Companies House about your new registered office address, you’ll need to remember to let your customers and suppliers know, update your stationery and website with the new address, and beyond!

Can I use any address as my registered office address?

You’ll need to provide a registered office address for the business when you set up a limited company.

This doesn’t have to be the address where business actually takes place, but because any formal written communications about your company will be sent here, there are some restrictions about the address that you can use. It must be:

• A real address, complete with postcode, rather than a PO Box number
• In the same part of the country that your limited company is registered in (for example, in Scotland if your business is registered in Scotland)

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to register your company without an address.

Your registered office address will be made publicly available on the Companies House register, so anyone will be able to view it. This can make some people feel uncomfortable, especially if you run your business from home. The good news is that you can use a different address, such as your accountant’s (with their permission), or an agent’s.

You must be able to receive any post sent to you at this address – you might be breaking the law if you can’t!
 

How do I tell Companies House if my registered office address changes?

You can inform Companies House about a change to your registered office address using the online WebFiling service (which you can also use to file your accounts and confirmation statement).

 
You can also notify Companies House using an AD01 Change of registered office address form, but just be aware that forms sent through the post take a bit longer to process.

Who else do I need to tell if my company’s registered address changes?

You probably deal with lots of different people and organisations in order to run your business, including some that you might have forgotten about! This normally means you’ll have quite a few people to notify about any changes to your registered office address, as well as your statutory reporting obligations.

Do I need to tell HMRC?

Companies House will (should) notify HMRC about your change of address for Corporation Tax purposes (which is why you must inform Companies House first).

You’ll also need to update your details for any other taxes and schemes you’re registered for, such as:

• Self Assessment
• PAYE (if you’re an employer, or if you operate director’s payroll)
• VAT (within 30 days of the change of address taking place)
• CIS, as either a contractor or a subcontractor

Don’t forget to tell other people involved with your business if the address changes

HMRC and Companies House are the big ones to update to avoid incurring any nasty fines, but there are others who’ll need to know if you or your business moves, too!

Financial providers

• Banks, including the address on each separate account, loan, or mortgage
• Pension provider
• Student Loans Company (SLC)

Service providers

• Payment processing providers, such as PayPal or Stripe
• Your accountant!
• Payroll provider
• Insurers (which might include vehicle insurance, premises, contents, employer’s liability etc.)
• Solicitors or other legal advisors
• Web hosting and domain registry
• IT hosting and servers
• Recruitment agencies
• Vehicle/equipment leasing agency
• The Intellectual Property Office for patents, trademarks etc.
• All your utilities providers, such as gas, electric, telephone, internet, and so on.

Interested persons

• Shareholders
• Other directors
• Investors
• Customers
• Suppliers
• Staff (though hopefully you told them well in advance!)

And the bits that everyone forgets

• Professional or chartered/governing bodies
• Update your website contact details
• Email signature
• Stationery, such as business cards, etc.
• The address stored in your bookkeeping software (to ensure the correct details appear on invoices and quotes!)
• DVLA for vehicle’s registered keeper address

If you need to update your address with The Accountancy Partnership, you can either contact your accountant directly, or call us on 020 3355 4047. Learn more about our online accounting services, and get an instant online quote.