What is a Business Address Service in London?
When you're starting a business your priority is usually keeping your costs low.
This can mean it's unlikely you're going to take a full time office in the centre of London on the day you launch your business.
Therefore the idea of a Business Address Service, or Virtual Office, started to appeal to more and more smaller businesses.
A business address service provides you with the ability to receive your mail (and packages) in a central London office address. This can appeal to new or expanding businesses in several ways:
Professional Presence
With a business address in London (or any other city) you'll be able to market your business as if you actually operate out of that location. You can have multiple business address in the same city, different cities and different countries.
This can make your organisation look more credible compared to using a home address and also means you can expand to multiple locations easily.
With the rise of Google My Business it can also be a great marketing channel to capture local customers in that city when they're searching for your services.
Reduced Costs
The cost of a simple registered address with mail handling is significantly cheaper than taking on a private office or full time coworking desk. Prices can range between £25 to £100 a month for a virtual office compared to £300 - £400.
Privacy
In most locations you can use the address as your registered business address.
Given that Companies House publicly records the address of your office and how it can be mapped to personal records, a lot of people prefer to setup a Limited Company using a registered office location.
Is a Business Address the same as a Virtual Office?
A registered business address can vary from a Virtual Office in several ways.
A business address is typically the right to receive mail at that address. There may be add on's for how you receive your mail (come in and pick it up, get it scanned and emailed or physically forwarded to you).
You may or may not be able to meet clients at your virtual office location.
You could get access to a local phone number or a virtual receptionist to pick up your calls.
Typically a business address is a pretty basic starting out service, whereas a Virtual Office tends to offer a lot more options.
Selecting the right Business Address Location in London
London addresses can vary quite drastically in price.
Mayfair, Westminster, Bank and St James' Park can certainly be one of the most expensive areas to get an address. These locations are typically associated with investment and finance companies.
Areas like Waterloo and London Bridge tend to be in the middle ground of price and have a wide variety of business industries associated with them.
Chancery Lane is typically associated with recruitment consultants and lawyers so it's a good area to get an address if you work in those types of businesses.
Farringdon, Shoreditch and Clerkenwell (where our registered address is) are where a lot of new and established tech companies are (like LinkedIn).
They also have the most unique places to meet clients (but we're a little biased).