Switching virtual office providers: your address and mail checklist

A better business address or easier access to your mail can make switching virtual office providers worthwhile. Perhaps you want a London presence, scanned copies instead of physical forwarding, or a package that brings your company address and everyday post together.

The move is easier to manage when you plan the new service, update the right records and agree what happens to post still arriving at the old address. Use this checklist to put those steps in order, with one person keeping track of what has been confirmed.

1. Choose the service you want to move to

Start with what you want to improve. List the address uses you need: business correspondence, your company’s registered office and any directors’ service addresses. They may share one location, but they serve different purposes. Our guide to business and registered-office addresses explains the distinctions.

Then decide how you want your post to reach you. Scanning gives you remote access to the contents; forwarding gets physical originals to your chosen address. You can also choose both. Compare the options in our mail scanning and forwarding guide.

Before choosing, check that ordinary business mail is covered, alongside company notices. Use our package-inclusions checklist to compare the full arrangement, including VAT, postage and billing terms.

2. Check your existing agreement before cancelling

Find your current contract and ask the provider to confirm:

• Notice and renewal: how to give notice, when it takes effect and whether a renewal is approaching.
• Final charges: any remaining subscription, forwarding or other agreed costs.
• Post already held: how to obtain any originals or scanned files you still need.
• Later arrivals: whether the provider offers any handling after your end date, for how long and at what cost.

Get the answers in writing. Do not cancel your existing plan until the new arrangement is confirmed. An agreed overlap can give you time to update senders and check the change, but the timing depends on both services. A new subscription does not automatically transfer your old account or cancel it.

3. Confirm the new address before using it

Give the new provider your company details, the address uses you need and your preferred way to receive mail. Confirm the exact company name and address format to give to senders.

A registered office must meet the Companies House address requirements and fit your company’s registration jurisdiction. A London address cannot replace a Scottish or Northern Irish registered office. Companies registered specifically in Wales also need to check the relevant rules before a move to England.

At CVH, you can use the address after signup, identity checks and activation confirmation. Arrange that confirmation before changing company records or directing post to us.

4. Update the records and people that use your address

Keep a simple list with the organisation, address being changed, date requested and confirmation received. Start with the records and senders most important to your business.

• Companies House: if your registered office is changing, use the official change-of-address process. The change takes effect when Companies House registers it. Check each director’s service address and any other affected officer or PSC details too; confirm that the resulting records are correct. Changes to directors’ details must be reported within 14 days.
• HMRC: Companies House tells HMRC about a registered-office change, but check the correspondence and business details held for every tax service you use. Follow HMRC’s business-detail guidance for Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE and other relevant schemes. For VAT, changes to the business’s name, trading name or main address must be reported within 30 days.
• Business contacts: tell your bank, payment providers, accountant, insurers, customers and suppliers where relevant. Check what each organisation means by “address”; a correspondence address does not replace accurate information about where you live or operate.
• Your own materials: update the address wherever appropriate on your website, invoices, email signatures, stationery and existing business listings. Check that each listing permits the address use you are describing.

If you only change your mail-handling arrangement while keeping the same registered office, that alone is not a registered-office change. Update the records that actually change.

5. Make a plan for post sent to the old address

Changing Companies House records does not redirect your post. Ask your old provider what it can do with later arrivals and confirm the receiving arrangement with your new provider.

If you are considering Royal Mail, check the correct service first. Its Business Redirection and Diversion guidance distinguishes a whole-business move from an address with a shared delivery point. Business Diversion is the relevant option to ask about for shared premises; confirm eligibility, coverage and costs rather than assuming standard redirection applies.

Keep updating any senders still using the old address. These arrangements reduce missed-post risk, but cannot guarantee uninterrupted delivery.

6. Check the handover before closing it off

Before treating the move as complete, check that:

• the new service is active and its contact and forwarding details are correct;
• the relevant public records and important senders show the new address;
• you have obtained the files and originals you need from the previous provider;
• the old service’s end date, final charges and later-mail arrangements are confirmed.

Keep the confirmations together so whoever manages your business mail knows what is in place.

Make your next address a Soho address

CVH’s London virtual office service gives your business a W1 presence at 49 Greek Street, Soho, with a choice of Mail Scanning, Mail Forwarding or Combo. Every mail package includes registered-office use for your company and service-address use for its directors, subject to the relevant address rules.

Talk to us about switching. Tell us which address services you use, how you want to receive your mail and your intended move date. We can help you choose a suitable CVH package. You can also compare monthly and annual plans; prices exclude VAT and forwarding postage is charged separately.

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