Every director of a UK company must have a service address, so you will need to provide this information to Companies House when you set up a company or appoint a new director.
A director’s service address is an official postal address that each company director is lawfully expected to have through which to receive statutory correspondence relating to their role in a company, i.e. official letters and notices from Companies House, HMRC, courts and other government agencies.
The Companies Act 2006 requires each director to provide Companies House with two addresses; their residential address and their service address.
Whatever address is used as the service address must be shown on the public register. If one uses one’s home address as one’s service address, however, then this means that one’s private residential address is publicly visible. For this reason it is common for a director to keep their home address private by using another address as their service address.
Does a director’s service address need to be in the UK?
Although your company’s registered office address must be within the part of the UK wherein your company was formed, a director’s service address may be anywhere either within the UK or abroad.
You may use any type of physical address (but not a PO Box) to which post can be delivered. This may be your private residence, your company’s registered office or trading address, the same address as another director, your accountant’s office, or a service address provided by a professional company formation agent.
Can my home address be used as my service address?
You are allowed to use your home address as your director’s service address. You should note, however, that your private residential address will therefore be shown by Companies House on the official register of companies, which is readily available online to the public.
If you wish to protect the privacy of your personal address then you are welcome to use our Service Address option.
Who else needs to provide a service address?
In addition to limited company directors, the following individuals must also provide Companies House with – and maintain – an actual service address:
- company secretaries,
- shareholders or guarantors who form the company,
- Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) members,
- People with Significant Control (PSCs).
You can find further information on the Service Address page of our website.
