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Virtual office for small limited company

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NewBiz99

NewBiz99

Free Member
Nov 6, 2012
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Hello everyone,

I'm running my own company of which I'm the sole employee. I run my business online so I don't need a physical office but I'd rather have it separate from my personal address.

What I need is an address to register my company to HMRC, Companies House and the bank. I don't need phone answering but just the address and mail forwarding.

Is there any reliable and affordable service that you could recommend?

Thank you.
 
storage unit? can accept mail on your behalf and take deliveries/pickups. you can get basically a small locker for a few pounds a week
 
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mobilitytools said:
storage unit? can accept mail on your behalf and take deliveries/pickups. you can get basically a small locker for a few pounds a week
Click to expand...

That's an option I hadn't considered, thanks for the original idea.

I suppose I have to pickup my mail/packages myself, right?

Price sounds great. The only thing that might be an issue, since there will be a manual pickup I had better choose a close location and if I move out it may be hard/time-consuming to drop by often.

Do you use/know a good storage unit service for such purposes?
 
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NewBiz99 said:
That's an option I hadn't considered, thanks for the original idea.

I suppose I have to pickup my mail/packages myself, right?

Price sounds great. The only thing that might be an issue, since there will be a manual pickup I had better choose a close location and if I move out it may be hard/time-consuming to drop by often.

Do you use/know a good storage unit service for such purposes?
Click to expand...

yeah you need to pick the items up from your unit. they have a reception and a holding room, so you just go to reception and they get your delivery for you. i use safestore, i run an ecommerce business, currently have a 200sq ft but moving up to 300 sq ft. I could get a 1500 sq ft industrial unit for same price as the 300 sq ft room, but as i am currently working full time as well as ecommerce business it's tricky, as the convenience of having someone accept deliveries is great. you'll probably pay 40-50p per sq ft a week. safestore do a price match so make sure you ask around and go back with a price if you go with them.
 
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mobilitytools said:
yeah you need to pick the items up from your unit. they have a reception and a holding room, so you just go to reception and they get your delivery for you. i use safestore, i run an ecommerce business, currently have a 200sq ft but moving up to 300 sq ft. I could get a 1500 sq ft industrial unit for same price as the 300 sq ft room, but as i am currently working full time as well as ecommerce business it's tricky, as the convenience of having someone accept deliveries is great. you'll probably pay 40-50p per sq ft a week. safestore do a price match so make sure you ask around and go back with a price if you go with them.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I will look into it.

Any other ideas/virtual office recommendations are welcome.
 
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We have EcoInnovation Centre in Peterborough that offer virtual offices - Cambridge Business Lounge do the same... there are places like it all over :)
 
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NewBiz99 said:
.

What I need is an address to register my company to HMRC, Companies House and the bank. I don't need phone answering but just the address and mail forwarding.

Is there any reliable and affordable service that you could recommend?

QUOTE]

Just out of curiosity...what would one expect to pay for just this kind of service?
Click to expand...
 
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rapidformations said:
We offer Registered Office and Directors Service Address options in both London and Glasgow. This would cover the forwarding of all official mail from HMRC or Companies House. These services are charged annually, but it works out about £5-6 per month for both.

Happy to answer any questions you might have about the services.
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Thanks, that sounds quite affordable. I checked out your website but I'm a bit confused about the differences of your services. If I change my business address to a VO do I also need a separate Directors Service Address? You also have a "Business Address" option. How is it different from "Registered Office"? Does it handle all mail forwarding whereas Registered Office only HMRC & Companies House?

Sorry if these don't make sense. I'm new to Virtual Office concept.
 
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Yes, that's right. Registered Office covers mail from HMRC & Companies House which is addressed to the company.

Directors Service Address covers mail addressed specifically to the director from HMRC & Companies House.

The Business Address would cover any other day to day business mail - hence why it is more expensive. Most people don't mind using their home address for this purpose since it is not required by Companies House and not listed on the public record (unlike the Registered Office & Service Address).

The phrase virtual office can be a bit confusing as it suggests phone answering etc all included - what we offer is just address services. There is some more info on this blog which may help to clarify the purpose of each one.
 
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Thanks for the clarification.

I'd rather have one address to appear as my registered address with Companies House & HMRC and handle all the mail forwarding including bank statements etc.
 
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No problem! If you're looking to have non HMRC/Companies House mail (such as bank statements) forwarded through our address then you would need to have all 3 of the address services.
 
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Thank you for the recommendations Rob and Christine.

For one fixed fee plus the cost of actual postage (min £10 to start with) we offer a virtual office address service along with mail forwarding, that you can use as a registered office address, a directors service address and as a business trading address (for the bank, etc). It's a 12 month contract for just £100 a year and you top up the postage as and when necessary.
 
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@FirstClassVirtualOffice: Thanks for the information. I checked your website. I like the pay-as-you-go model as I don't receive much mail. Is there a way to filter out junk mail (at least brochures and leaflets which are obvious)? I receive a lot of those. I would rather not pay for their junk. Even though it's not a fortune it's just annoying.

I saw a few good reviews about Hold Everything. Seems a bit pricey though. Does anyone have any idea about their services?

An interesting thing about VO and mail handling looks like the big price difference.

This forum proved to be a valuable resource as interacting with both vendors and consumers is possible! Thanks everyone for your responses.
 
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Our address is already MPS'd so we rarely receive junk mail for our clients but yes we can manually filter out junk magazines, junk flyers, etc, if it's obvious that's what it is. But suffice to say, junk mail is at an absolute minimum that we receive. If we receive a heavy magazine or something else heavy, we email the client and ask if they want it sending on and they almost always tell us to bin it. There is nothing in it for us to send junk mail and waste a clients postage credit.
 
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Register your company at your accountants address, most accountants offer this. Then have all your mail sent to your house, where you work from.
No need for it to be any more complicated than that.
 
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That sounds good, thanks for the further info.
estwig said:
Register your company at your accountants address, most accountants offer this. Then have all your mail sent to your house, where you work from.
No need for it to be any more complicated than that.
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Sounds simple enough. Thanks.
 
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It does commit you to keeping the same accountant. And I guess there may be a charge for it.

I prefer the virtual office as otherwise it would be my home address.

When anyone can enter a post code and walk down your street on Google maps, I prefer more privacy. It is worth the fee for that.
 
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Yeah, I definitely agree. Also VO gives you the freedom to move out without the hassle of contacting HMRC, companies house, bank and maybe more places.

I live in London and I feel like I should have my business address in London as well. There is no requirement for that but just feels right. I'm looking into Hoxton Mix Virtual Office Forward service now. Any ideas/experience?
 
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If the OP is going to be using an accountant all year round, then there usually will be a charge, though some may incorporate it into their fees, but they usually won't act as a generic trading/mailing address for receiving anything other than HMRC and Companies House mail.
 
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I checked my accountant's company. They offer such a service for extra cost but it's limited. What I didn't like is this clause "Please note that you cannot use the registered office address service as the accommodation address for your company, nor for any trading, correspondence or advertising purposes"

I'm planning to use this address everywhere as you would with a physical office
 
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NewBiz99 said:
Hello everyone,

I'm running my own company of which I'm the sole employee. I run my business online so I don't need a physical office but I'd rather have it separate from my personal address.

What I need is an address to register my company to HMRC, Companies House and the bank. I don't need phone answering but just the address and mail forwarding.

Is there any reliable and affordable service that you could recommend?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

I've no idea what your business is, but If you're selling online to consumers, the law requires you to publish your real address - PO Boxes and virtual addresses won't do.
 
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cjd said:
I've no idea what your business is, but If you're selling online to consumers, the law requires you to publish your real address - PO Boxes and virtual addresses won't do.
Click to expand...

I run a software company. I don't sell any physical goods. So I think using VO souldn't be an issue for me.
 
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You may be right. Companies House won't accept a PO Box number and that seems to have carried over into the DS regs. I can't see the difference between a PO box and a Virtual Address, but maybe someone who actually knows will put us right.
 
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A virtual office is manned and post can be verifiably delivered. The virtual office also can verify your forwarding address,as they check it out before accepting you.

But you can have a PO box and never pick up your mail. It is not guarantee that you have received official documents or customer communications.
 
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I think I'll go with Hoxton Mix next week. Main reason is it provides a London address and everything I need is included in one package (registered address + mail forwarding). It's not the cheapest offer in the market but I feel like I'm going in circles now and I don't want to make a decision based on price alone. Let's see how it turns out!. I'll probably update this post to share experiences and opinions so that people in my situation can benefit in the future.
 
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We offer virtual office services in London, see my signature. We don't allow clients to pick up their mail, for various reasons; it's all forwarded.

I would guess PO boxes are not acceptable at Companies House as they're less tangible than a proper office address. The authorities want to cut down low-level jiggery-pokery that ends up with complaints to local Trading Standards and the police.
 
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We provide virtual office services, we do allow clients to pick up their post from our premises. Alternatively a client can choose to have their mail forwarded globally.

Companies House require a real physical location as the registered office.
 
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I would guess a storage unit couldn't be used unless it has its own address that is actually on public record. I assume if it is called "a storage unit", then perhaps it cant be used as a physical tangible address and thus it would be unsuitable.
 
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Have you considered setting up a PO Box? Again it rolls down the the manual pick up and checking the mail yourself and may not be ideal if you have larger deliveries. But they're often cheap and ideal for letters and such.
 
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capitalvirtual said:
Companies House require a real physical location as the registered office.
Click to expand...

As several people have confirmed.
Also as a potential customer a PO Box address would raise alarm bells.

Its okay for some things, but a business needs a real address - which could be a manned virtual office. When people work from home and want to keep some privacy it is ideal.
 
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A virtual office really can help a small business, a new venture needs to keep overheads down however productivity can be harmed through simple tasks such as taking phone calls. A virtual office is a great way of taking away some of the business duty strain whilst boosting the companies presence, all for a minimal fee when compared to a staff and rent.
 
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Just wanted update this thread. Maybe it can help other people looking for a mail forwarding service.

I've recently bought a package from Pay as You Go Post (also known as Address123 which is a bit sketchy IMHO)

It was quite cheap and since my requirement is just to forward a few mails every now and then and a registered address it looked good.

But there are hidden costs: For example they charge extra £3.99/month for accessing your scanned mails online. Also requires a £10 one-off "activation" fee.

Worst part is calling their customer service for existing customers costs 61p/minute (plus "network charges" whatever they are!) I just had a £7 phone conversation and the representative just took notes of my questions and told me someone will contact me soon (and they repeat everything thrice!).

Also I can't say I liked the customer portal as everything is just plain text. All you can do is type your request in a textbox and a human has to go through your request. So nothing is automated.

I'll just use it for 1 year as I've already paid for it but for now I'm not quite happy with it.

The only thing I liked is the option to Scan and Email the mails and hold them until I collect. If this works I might continue using it but if I experience the slightest issue I will definitely use another service next year.

We'll see. I'll keep this thread updated.
 
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Customer service phone numbers are no longer allowed to be the type that charge more than a local call rate.

We charge just one fixed annual fee for our virtual office service and the only extra to pay for is the actual cost of postage as charged by Royal Mail, and topped up when needed. We also have a mail scanning service too, but charge an annual fee for that too, and they are scanned & emailed to you as and when they arrive and originals can either be forwarded on or shredded to save postage.

The problem with these services is the hidden fees, which start out looking cheap and depending how much mail you get, what you use it for, etc, it can become expensive over a 12 month period. We can't be compared on price alone as we don't offer a London address - not sure if that's what you are using?
 
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They're offering a London address. I forgot to mention but it's also one of my main criteria as I live in London (for the time being at least)
 
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I would maybe look at the serviced offices and business centres as they also tend to offer this service too.
 
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