Virtual office guide
Virtual office vs home address
Two ways to give your business an address.
Your home address is free but public. A virtual office gives you a business address and keeps your home private. It costs a small monthly fee, and you keep working from home. Pick the one that matches how you really work.
Home address or virtual office: compared
| Question | Home address | Virtual office |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | A small monthly fee |
| Keeps your home private | No | Yes |
| Registered office for Companies House | Yes | Yes |
| Somewhere to work | Yes | No |
| Post handled for you | No | Yes |
| Meeting rooms | No | Often in the same building |
Using your home address
It's free and it's simple. But say you run a limited company. You might use your home as the registered office or your director's service address. If so, it's on the public Companies House register for anyone to find. It also goes on your website, invoices and online listings.
Some people feel a home address makes a business look smaller than it is. And customers, couriers and junk mail all come to your front door. If you move house, you have to update your address everywhere.
Using a virtual office
A virtual office gives you a real business address, without renting a desk. You can use it as your registered office and your business address. With the right plan, it can be your director's service address too. You carry on working from home, or wherever suits you.
At the Maggie O'Neill Centre, a virtual office in Liverpool costs £20 a month for Address Only. Or it's £40 for Virtual Office. That gives you unlimited post scanning and 2 free meeting room hours a month, worth £40. Director's Coveradds your director's service address for £10 a month (£30 or £50).
Which one is right for you?
- Choose your home address if you're a sole trader. It suits you if you don't mind your address on your website and invoices.
- Choose a virtual office if you work from home but want to keep your home private. You get a proper business address, and your post is looked after.
Need to meet clients? At the Maggie O'Neill Centre, meeting rooms are in the same building as your virtual office address. The smallest is the Pod, a boardroom for 4, at £20 an hour. Need a desk of your own? See private offices. Or start with registered office address plans in Liverpool.