A registered office is the official address of a company, an association or any other legal entity. Generally it will form part of the public record. A registered address is required for businesses that have a physical presence in the United Kingdom, or habitually conduct business there, even without a physical presence. According to Companies House, the UK governmental branch that handles this, a physical presence means a place of business or branch through which the company carries on business.
In the United Kingdom, and many other common law countries, the registered office address does not have to be where the organisation conducts its business, and it is not unusual for accountants or agents to provide registered office services. In the United Kingdom all statutory post for a company is sent to the registered office address. Under regulations implemented in the UK on 1 October 2009, company directors may now use the registered office address instead of their home address for contact on the Companies House register. A registered address, however, does have to be the address where you receive and send official correspondence. For this reason many businesses that have home offices choose registered office addresses. This address is also the one that will be displayed on company letterhead.
In many other countries the address with which a company is registered must be where its headquarters or seat is located, and this will often determine the subnational registry at which the company must be registered.
In the UK, Companies House and HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) have many forms available for doing business in the UK, including those needed to get a registered address.
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