A registered office address is a company’s official legal address, publicly listed on Companies House, used to receive statutory correspondence from bodies like HMRC and Companies House itself. A service address is a director’s (or PSC’s) personal correspondence address, also public, but separate from the company’s own address. A trading address is simply where a business actually operates from day to day – it has no legal registration requirement and can be different again from both of the above.
Required under the Companies Act 2006 for every UK limited company and LLP, this must be a physical UK address in the same jurisdiction the company is registered in (England & Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland). It’s the address government notices, tax documents, and legal paperwork are sent to, and it must appear on the company’s website, invoices, and official stationery.
Every director and person with significant control (PSC) must give Companies House both a residential address (private, protected) and a service address (public). The service address can be anywhere in the world and doesn’t have to match the registered office – its only purpose is to be a valid address where the individual can be reached for official correspondence.
There’s no statutory definition of a trading address; it’s generally understood as wherever business is principally carried out – a shop, warehouse, office, or even a home. It doesn’t need to be filed anywhere and can be entirely different from both the registered office and the director’s service address.
Because the registered office and service address are both public record, many businesses use a single professional address for both to keep a home address out of Companies House entirely, while using a separate (or the same) trading address for day-to-day, customer-facing operations.
Registered Office vs Service Address vs Trading Address: What’s the Difference? A registered office address is a company’s official legal address, publicly listed on Companies House, used to receive statutory correspondence from bodies like HMRC
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