Directors' service addresses

Since 1st October 2009 a director now has to notify Companies House of two addresses:

(a) service address
(b) usual residential address

Only the Service Address is shown on the public record; the residential address is only available to certain government bodies, including the police, HMRC and credit reference agencies.

For many directors the service address and residential address are the same, but if the Company has premises, an office, shop etc, this address will often be used as the service address. The ddress can just be stated as 'The registered office of the company'.

Every company must keep separate registers of directors service addresses and their residential addresses as part of their statutory registers. The public has a right to inspect the former but not the latter.

Restricting Disclosure of Addresses
Sec243 CA 2006 provides that an officer of a company can apply to Companies House to prevent the disclosure of address to credit reference agencies. The Companies (Disclosure of Address) Regulations 2009 set out the requirements for obtaining a restriction on disclosure of address. The individual making the application must consider that there is a serious risk that he, or a person who lives with him/her, will be subjected to violence or intimidation as a result of the activities of at least one of the companies which s/he is or was a director.
An application is made on form SR04, available from Companies House, which must be submitted with a written statement of the grounds for making the application and a fee of £100.