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Useful advise, tips and business news.

Blog

Useful advice, tips and business news.

Jul 1, 2014
Feb 15, 2024

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How to Change Your Limited Company Registered Office Address

Discover how to change your UK limited company registered office address at Companies House using form AD01 or WebFiling.

🔑 Key Highlights

  • You can change your registered office address anytime throughout the lifetime of your company.
  • With the recently enacted Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, your registered address must be a physical address in the same country where the company is registered, not a PO box address.
  • Statutory letters from government agencies such as the Office of National Statistics, courts, Companies House, and HMRC are sent to the registered office address.

How to Change a Company Address (Online and With Form AD01)

You are responsible for keeping your company information as held by Companies House up to date. But before you proceed to change, ensure that the new address remains within the same part of the UK where your company is registered – England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. 

Change your company address online using your WebFiling credentials (email address and password). 

Watch the video below for more information.

A video guide on how to change your director or company address registered with Companies House

You can also change your details by post using form AD01

Form AD01 download
A snapshot of from AD01

You’ll need the following details to fill out the form – 

  • Company name
  • Company registration number
  • Details of the new address
  • Presenter information (details of the person filling out the form)

To avoid penalties, you must update your company information held at Companies House within 14 days of the change. 

Once your change of address becomes effective, Companies House will inform HMRC. 

FAQ 

What is a registered office address? 

Companies House, HMRC, and other government agencies use a registered office address to send official mail. You can use your home or business address, but note that Companies House will no longer accept a P.O. Box.

Also known as a service address, the registered office address is the official address of your Company. As far as mail is concerned, it is the point of contact between your private limited company and the government. 

Before you register your company, be sure to have it in place. 

Can I use my residential address as my company’s registered office address?

Yes. You can use your home address as your registered office address. However, since the address will be publicly available on the Companies House register, you may get unwanted mail and visitors, exposing you to privacy and security challenges. 

Instead, consider working with a virtual office address service like ours and acquire a prestigious central London address that elevates your brand image. 

What is the difference between a trading address and a registered office address?

A trading address is where you are carrying out your business activities. If you have a professional business premise, you can register your trading address as the registered office address. However, you may have to deal with uninvited visitors since this information will be available on the Companies House public register. 

Furthermore, with your landlord's permission, you can provide your home address as your registered address. Yet, this option exposes you to privacy violations and junk mail. 

Do I or a company representative need to be available at the trading address to receive correspondence? 

You do not need to trade from your registered office service location or have any company representative present. However, you need someone at the address to receive, sign, and confirm receipt of the government mail sent to the business. Such an individual can be anybody, including the staff at a virtual office. 

It ensures that official documents, notices, or communications are properly handled and acknowledged by someone at the specified address. By fulfilling this requirement, you demonstrate that you have a reliable point of contact for regulatory or governmental entities, even if the business or company representative is not physically present at the trading address.

What are the key features of your registered address service?

As far as virtual office services are concerned, we are the best. 

A registered office address is a legal requirement during company formation. Further, with the enactment of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act already established, companies have until March 2024 to switch to a physical address from a P.O. Box. 

🎁 Exclusive Offer

Our prestigious central London registered office address service includes a FREE Company formation. Furthermore, if you take the virtual business address service, you get additional benefits such as access to meeting rooms and mail forwarding service.

Registered office address service

Jul 10, 2014
Feb 15, 2024

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Directors Service Address Vs. Registered Office Address Service

Are you seeking to register your company in the UK? Get the latest insights for successful UK company formation with Companies House.

🔑 Key Highlights

  • During company formations, there are two primary addresses that you will need to provide to Companies House: the director's service address and the registered office address.
  • All companies must provide a registered email address under the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Companies House will use this email address to communicate with the company – it will not be available to the public.

As the name suggests, the director service address is provided by the individual directors, while the registered office address represents the official correspondence address of the company.

What Is a director's service address?

It is the address government agencies will use to send statutory correspondence relevant to the role of the director. Official letters from HMRC, Companies House, courts, the Office of National Statistics, and other agencies will be sent to this address.

Every director needs to provide this information during company formation or at the time of appointment. The address can be residential or commercial, but remember that Companies House will display it in the public register. We always recommend using a non-residential address to protect an individual's privacy.

Insight

Unlike the registered address, the director's service address can be a full postal address anywhere in the world.

What Is a registered office address?

Statutory letters in the company name will be sent to the registered office address. Please note that starting March 2024, owing to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which became law in October 2023, a registered office address must be a physical address, not a P.O. Box.

Insight

You must have a registered office address before starting the company formation process. It must be in the same country your company is registered in; for example, a company registered in Scotland must present a registered office address in Scotland.

In addition to the office address, the Act also requires all companies to provide a registered email address. Companies House will use this email address to communicate with the company, and it will not be available to the public.  

Starting 4 March 2024, newly incorporated companies must provide a registered email address during the incorporation process. For existing companies, the requirement applies when filing their subsequent confirmation statement, beginning from a statement date on or after 5 March 2024

Can I use my home address as my director service address?

Yes. Technically, you can use your home address as your director service address. However, since this information will be publicly available on the Companies House register, it's essential to consider the implications. Using your home address may impact your privacy and expose personal details to the public. 

Opting for a separate director service address, such as the one provided by Your Virtual Office London, ensures a professional image, safeguards your privacy, and complies with regulatory requirements. Our solution allows you to maintain a level of separation between your personal and professional identity.

Can I use a virtual office address as my director's address?

Yes, using a virtual office address as your director's address is common and legal. You get to present a professional image for your business and streamline statutory communication, as the virtual office can handle mail and other communications on your behalf.

🎁 Exclusive Offer

Elevate your business with our prestigious virtual business address in central London, which includes free company formation.

What is the difference between a registered office, business address, and service address?

The terms "registered office," "business address," and "service address" refer to different addresses associated with a company, each serving a distinct purpose. Here's a breakdown of their differences —

Registered Office Address

Also known as the legal correspondence address, it is the official address of a company or LLP used for legal and official correspondence, and with the appropriate permissions, you can use either a residential or non-residential address. Government agencies, regulatory bodies, and the public send statutory letters and official documents to this address. Such correspondence may include—

  • Official documentation regarding changes in company structure or details;
  • Official company documentation from Companies House;
  • Legal updates, notices and summons;
  • Compliance information and reminders;
  • Correspondence from HMRC; OR
  • Important notifications related to the company.

The law requires that companies maintain a registered office address, which must be a physical location in the country where the company is registered.

Business Address

Also known as a trading address, it is the general address associated with the company, used for general business correspondence from customers, clients, and suppliers. It can be a physical location or a virtual office. Unlike the registered address, you are not required to observe the exact legal requirements. There is no legal definition for a business or trading address. 

Service Address

Also known as the director address, it is the official address of company directors, secretaries, and other officers registered with Companies House. It is used for official communication related to the individual's role in the company.

Similar to the registered office address, having a service address is a legal requirement. It helps protect the personal information of limited company officers.

What is the difference between a home and a correspondence address?

The terms "home address" and "correspondence address" refer to different addresses associated with individuals and serve distinct purposes. The home address is the residential address where an individual resides. It is primarily used to identify the location of an individual's residence and is associated with personal matters.

The home address is used for various purposes, including personal mail and official documents, and as a point of contact for personal matters.

On the other hand, a correspondence address is designated by an individual for receiving official correspondence. Individuals may get a correspondence address if they prefer to receive certain types of mail or communications at a location other than their home address.

Jan 1, 2023
Feb 15, 2024

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How the UK Economy Performed During the 2020 Pandemic

The UK economy is a stalwart in the European region and will remain strong for centuries to come.

The economy of the United Kingdom is a highly developed mixed economy, which is the sixth-largest national economy in the world. It is the second-largest economy in the European Union (EU) and the third-largest in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The United Kingdom has a strong and diverse economy supported by various industries, including finance, professional and scientific services, manufacturing, and tourism.

The financial services industry, which is centered in London, is a major contributor to the UK economy, as are the manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries. The UK is also a major exporter of oil and gas. Despite its strong economic performance, it has faced a number of economic challenges in recent years. These include Brexit, which has had a significant impact on the country's trade and economic relationships, as well as the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to significant economic disruption and job losses. The UK government has implemented a number of measures to support the economy during these challenging times, including fiscal stimulus, support for businesses, and temporary changes to employment regulations.

The country's economy has been affected by the global economic slowdown, as well as by domestic factors such as rising inflation and declining productivity. Despite these challenges, the UK's economy remains a key player on the global stage, and it is expected to continue to grow and adapt to changing economic conditions in the future.

The lockdown measures put in place to contain the spread of the virus have resulted in widespread job losses and a significant contraction of the economy. In the first quarter of 2020, the UK economy experienced its largest contraction, with GDP falling by 2% compared to the previous quarter. The services sector, which accounts for around 80% of the UK economy, was particularly hard hit, with businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors being forced to close or significantly reduce their operations. The UK government has implemented a number of measures to support businesses and protect jobs, including the suspension of workers, which has helped to prevent widespread unemployment. However, the long-term economic impact of the pandemic is still uncertain, and it is likely that the UK will continue to face significant economic challenges in the coming years. Even though the UK has implemented measures such as lockdowns and social distancing restrictions to try to slow the spread of the virus, these measures have also had a negative impact on the economy.

The government implemented various measures to try to support the economy, including loans, grants for businesses, and increased welfare payments but the result of a pandemic on the economy is still uncertain and will depend on the success of efforts to control the virus and stimulate economic recovery so the government has outlined a roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions, but it remains to be seen how this will impact the economy.

The UK economy experienced its worst recession on record, with GDP falling by 9.9%. The country has also seen high levels of unemployment, with the unemployment rate rising to 5.1% in the third quarter of 2020.

There is a range of measures that governments and individuals can take to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These can be grouped into three main categories: public health measures, economic measures, and social measures.

Public health measures:

• Implementing and enforcing measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and quarantine to reduce the spread of the virus

• Testing and tracing to identify and isolate cases of the virus

• Vaccinating the population to reduce the number of cases and deaths from the virus

Economic measures:

• Providing financial support to individuals and businesses affected by the pandemic, such as through furlough schemes, business grants, and loans

• Implementing measures to stabilize financial markets and prevent a financial crisis

Social measures:

• Providing support to vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions

• Implementing measures to reduce the social and economic impact of the pandemic, such as through remote working or online education

Fast forward to today, the UK has demonstrated resilience in the face of the pandemic in a number of ways. One factor contributing to the UK's resilience has been the strong response from the government and central bank. The government has implemented a range of measures to support businesses and individuals affected by the pandemic, The Bank of England has also taken steps to support the economy, including cutting interest rates and providing additional funding to banks.

Another factor contributing to the UK's resilience has been the adaptability and strength of its businesses. Many businesses have been able to pivot and adapt to the changing circumstances brought about by the pandemic, such as moving to online sales or offering delivery services.

The UK has also benefited from its strong healthcare system and scientific community, which have played a key role in responding to the pandemic. The country has a well-established infrastructure for public health and research and has been at the forefront of efforts to develop and distribute vaccines.

Overall, while the pandemic has had a significant impact on the UK, it has shown resilience in the face of challenges through the actions of its government, businesses, and scientific community. It is difficult to draw a definitive conclusion about the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the UK economy at this time. The pandemic has had a severe impact on many sectors of the economy, leading to a recession in 2020 and a rise in unemployment. However, the government has implemented a range of measures to support businesses and individuals during the pandemic, and it is likely that some of the changes brought about by the pandemic, such as the shift to remote working, will have lasting effects.

Looking ahead, the UK economy is expected to continue to recover in the coming years, although the pace of recovery is uncertain and will depend on the evolution of the pandemic and the success of vaccination efforts. It is also expected that the economic recovery will be uneven, with some sectors recovering faster than others.

Jan 15, 2023
Feb 15, 2024

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UK’s 2023 Corporate Tax Rate: What’s New, What Remains, and What Should You Do About It?

Corporate tax is a special interest to the UK government and its economy, because it is what drives the country's GDP.

As a citizen of a country, it is one's responsibility to pay taxes. One of the most widely discussed tax topics as the New Year began was the UK government's plan to raise the corporate tax rate from 19% to 25% on April 20, 2023.What changes will this new corporation tax rate cause? And what can you do about it?

Table of Contents

• Corporate Tax

• Why All This Changes in Corporate Tax?

• Tax Specializations

• Final Thoughts

Corporate Tax

But first, what exactly is corporate tax?

According to Britannica, corporate tax is a tax levied on a corporation's net profits. The definition may be simple, but its concept might be confusing for some due to the complexity of this new tax policy. So, let's try to make it easier to understand!

Businesses sell goods and services in exchange for money, and the sales they make less their business cost will be the profit. With the profits of the company or corporation, the government can take the established percentage as a corporate tax. Resident companies in the UK have to pay corporate tax on their worldwide profits. Non-resident companies, on the other hand, are subject to UK corporation tax on the trading profits attributable to UK permanent establishments. Limited companies—a form of corporate structure where the firm is legally separate from its shareholders and managers—associated with trading profits, investments, and asset selling such as land, properties, and shares for chargeable gains have to pay corporate taxes as well, while sole traders and partnerships have to file a tax return and deduct income tax return on their profit.

Why All This Changes in Corporate Tax?

Why did the UK government change the corporate tax rate for 2023? It is because of the status of the economy during the past years, caused mainly by the pandemic. The government sees this as an opportunity to pay the lost revenues and expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, the UK's new corporate tax rate is just aligned with the corporate tax rate worldwide.

Here's the catch, though. Not everyone has to pay a 25% corporate tax. Beginning April 1, 2023, there will be no single corporation tax rate for non-ring-fenced profits, according to uk.gov. In addition to this, the government declared that the Corporation Tax main rate for non-ring-fenced profits would rise to 25% for profits over £250,000 in the Spring Budget of 2021. Fortunately, the corporate tax rate will remain at 19% for small businesses with profits of $50,000 or less.

What about those whose profits are between £50,000 and £250,000? In the article published by Wellers, the corporate tax for those in the marginal rate will be 26.5% by 2023/2024.

Ring-fenced companies, which profit from oil extraction and UK rights, have different corporate tax rates than other companies. The following shows the corporate tax policies for these types of companies:

• The corporate tax rate for small ring-fenced profits rate or those companies with profits under £50,000 is 19%.

• The corporate tax rate for main ring-fenced profits rate or those companies with profits over £250,000 is 30%.

• Marginal relief for ring fence companies with profits between £300,000 and £1.5 million will be available to claim for periods up to 31 March 2023 while marginal relief is available for companies with profits between £50,000 and £250,000 from April 1, 2023.

Ring-fenced companies are not the only ones whose corporation tax rate is different from others. Other regimes have special corporation tax due to the size of the business, transfer pricing, R&D credits, and some targeted anti-avoidance rules, which will result in additional compliance and reporting requirements. As given by the Worldwide Tax Summaries, the following are the special corporation tax regimes:

1. Oil and gas company regime (ring-fenced companies)

2. Life insurance company regime

3. Tonnage tax regime

4. Banking sector

5. Real estate investment trust (REIT) regime

6. Qualifying asset holding company (QAHC) regime

Tax Specializations

Each regime has a distinct tax specialization. For instance, life insurance companies are subject to a unique tax system that has various rates for corporate taxes as well as unique guidelines for estimating or calculating their profits. On the other hand, the Tonnage Tax uses the net tonnage of active ships as a substitute measurement to calculate business tax gains. The Tonnage Tax profit replaces the chargeable gains/losses on Tonnage Tax assets as well as the tax-adjusted profit/loss on a shipping firm and some related operations. Having said that, any additional profits are subject to the standard corporate tax system.

Similarly, businesses in the banking industry must pay an extra 8% tax on income beyond GBP 25 million.

While QAHCs are permitted a stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT) exemption on the repurchase by a QAHC of share and loan capital, as well as the ability to redeem, repay, or repurchase its share through the capital treatment of payments in the hands of investors, profits from the UK REIT's "residual business," or activities other than renting out properties, are subject to corporation tax in the usual manner.

Due to the decision to change the corporate tax rate of the UK, Diverted Profits Tax (DPT), a part of the United Kingdom's response to the shift in the tax environment, is said to rise to 31% starting on or after April 1, 2023.

With no mention of reversal or change, it looks like the new 25% corporate tax rate is going to go ahead, so people need to know how to register for corporation tax and responsibility. To register for corporation tax when starting up a limited company, you need to go through the HM Revenue and Customs section of GOV.UK. You can now fill up the needed information. Corporation tax must be paid before filing the company tax return, which means that the deadline for payment depends on your corporation tax accounting period. Failure to settle the bill by the deadline dates can lead to penalties.

Apart from this, you may be able to lower your corporation tax bill by making use of strategies like the "Annual Investment Allowance," "The Patent Box Tax Regime," R&D tax relief, allowable business expenses, employee share scheme, and many other ways which you may learn about here.

Final Thoughts

There will be several changes that this new corporate tax rate may bring, whether boosting federal revenues or causing negative impacts on certain businesses. However, those who are knowledgeable and can greatly adapt to these changes can withstand whatever the effects will be. Since the shift will most likely happen, then people must learn the things to do, such as registration, filing, and paying, and the strategies to use to reduce the corporate tax bill. Indeed, the tax environment is even more complicated than we've expected, but this complexity will surely continue as different corporations continue to evolve and as governments have distinct and certain priorities that can greatly influence how their tax policies will be shaped

Jan 15, 2023
Feb 15, 2024

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Disassembled

The UK's GDP is among the largest in the world and thus its economy thrives even in dire times.

The United Kingdom has a fiercely autonomous, advanced, and global trade economy that was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. The 1990s saw economic growth rates that were competitive with those of other major industrialized nations. After the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India, the United Kingdom has the sixth-largest economy, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.83 trillion in 2019 and a population of over 66 million.  It is known for having a great overall quality of life and a somewhat diverse economy. The majority of the U.K.'s GDP is comprised of services, manufacturing, construction, and tourism; one of its unique regulations is the free asset ratio.

According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics (ONS), the services sector makes up the majority of the UK economy and contributes to more than three-quarters of GDP. United Kingdom's service includes a variety of sectors, such as finance and business services, as well as consumer-oriented sectors like retail, food and beverage, and entertainment. Agriculture contributes about 0.60% of the GDP, and manufacturing and production contribute less than 21 percent.

Table of Contents

• A Bulwark of European Economy

• Trading

• Tourism

• BREXIT

• Health & Medical Sources

• Conclusion

A Bulwark of European Economy

The United Kingdom, notably London, has long been a center for finance. The banking, insurance, London Stock Exchange, shipping, and commodity markets all underwent substantial changes as a result of the sector's extensive restructuring and deregulation in the 1980s and 1990s. Over time, certain clearly defined boundaries between financial institutions have blurred. Around the turn of the century, the financial services industry employed over a million people and accounted for around one-twelfth of the GDP. While the financial services industry has seen significant expansion in certain medium-sized cities, notably Leeds and Edinburgh, London has maintained its position as the industry leader and has grown in both size and effect as a hub for international financial operations.

Trading

Trading in foreign exchange and securities has increased along with capital movements. Engineering, food, drinks (including alcoholic beverages), and tobacco, chemicals, paper, printing, and publishing, metals and minerals, textiles, apparel, footwear, and leather, are the most significant industrial industries in terms of their proportionate contribution to the GDP. Chemicals and electrical engineering have seen the fastest growth. The chemical industry has seen the biggest increases in pharmaceuticals and specialty goods. Within the engineering industry, electronics products have seen the quickest growth, followed by electrical and instrument engineering, transport engineering, which includes motor vehicles, and aerospace products.

Tourism

Another significant source of revenue for the UK is tourism. According to the ONS, foreign nationals spent £28.4 billion, or $35.9 billion, on travel and tourism in the UK in 2019. In June 2019, which is the busiest month for travel, there were 9% more visitors than the previous year. According to Visit Britain, foreign tourists spent £2.34 billion, up 13% from the prior year.

BREXIT

Brexit, which stands for "British exit," the U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union (EU), became official on January 31, 2020. Since the vote, a wide range of governmental and nongovernmental organizations have predicted that the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Brexit negotiations has had a negative impact on the U.K. economy. However, this could represent a better opportunity for the nation.

A 100-page report titled "The Benefits of Brexit" was released by the UK government to commemorate two years since the country's withdrawal from the EU. This lays out a range of benefits in many areas of spending, policy, and regulation in an enthusiastic, upbeat manner. A few days later, Jacob Rees-Mogg was named to the Cabinet as the Brexit Opportunities Minister to oversee this initiative.

Brexit has changed astonishingly little in many aspects of health and care, despite the fact that the UK's health industry has already felt the effects of trade and migration. This is because there isn't a clear, widely accepted strategy for life after the single market. The UK has stagnated in a number of areas as the EU advances.

Each of the health-related "benefits" can be broken down to reveal a recurring pattern. Many of these are either places where the UK has a real chance of doing something new and different or where the UK must make a crucial decision between going it alone and attempting to stay close to larger markets.

The document's first section emphasizes the UK's capacity to "manage its own money" and avoid making contributions to the EU. Following that is a bullet point that states that healthcare spending will increase by £57 billion in 2024–2025 compared to the year of the EU referendum.

The report avoids explicitly stating any sort of causal relationship. The Office for Budget Responsibility, which oversees public finances for the UK government, predicts that the net result of Brexit will be less rather than more money available due to a slowdown in economic growth.

Instead, the UK is funding the entire recovery effort through its own accounts. It is using this to invest in health in a way that is somewhat similar to what we see in the EU. The NHS is receiving additional funding to reduce waiting lists, and thanks to a spending review based on higher borrowing, its capital budget is expected to increase to its highest level in many years. This, however, has been packaged with a strong emphasis on new hospital building investment and meeting targets rather than investing in new care models or pandemic preparedness. In addition, rather than using the EU's seven-year timeframe, the UK has restricted its spending horizons to its typical spending review period. This doesn't seem to be a completely new direction at all.

Health & Medical Sources

Regarding medications, the new minister has said that "we can use our freedom to approve life-saving drugs faster and at better prices than ever before." The recent rapid approval of vaccines and new methods combining the approval of medicines with value-for-money checks have all been done in accordance with retained EU law, indicating a lack of concrete plans. According to reports, a strategy of general alignment and fast tracks for specific innovative projects has been proposed. The logic is sound, but the details will be challenging, just like with medical devices.

Despite the fact that many international processes are still in their very early stages, the document's sections on trade once again emphasize a high level of general ambition. There is a lot of discussion about diplomatic and trade promotion initiatives that are independent of Brexit.

Conclusion

The probability of the UK joining the Pacific Trade bloc CPTPP is a major topic of discussion. As we have noted, while this is advantageous for industries subject to tariffs, it is typically not the case for goods related to health. The agreement could reduce the UK's latitude in food and drink regulation and introduce Investor-State Dispute Settlement systems, which are sometimes linked to legal action against public health measures by large corporations.

They say that by removing a portion that made you heavy, you will move more quickly. Will this be applicable across the board?

Aug 8, 2022
Dec 28, 2023

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Top 7 Social Media Marketing Hacks for your Business

Get ahead of the curve and beat your competitors with these simply yet effective social media hacks!

Ever since Facebook and Twitter became a fad of the modern generation businesses of all sizes realized their potential and immediately created business pages on the top 10 percent social media sites in the world. Their goal is to attract new customers, build their brand and engage a wider audience. But how do you use the different social media channels to your advantage? Where do you start? And what do the professionals recommend?

In this article, we are going to talk about the 7 best social media marketing tricks to catapult your business into success.

Table of Contents

• Understanding your Audience

• Take Advantage of the Strengths of Each Channel

• Interact with your Audience

• Show There’s a Human Behind the Brand

• Ensure your Senior Executives are Authentic

• Use the Right Tools

• Put the Effort in to Gain Value

1. Understanding your Audience

The first thing you need to do is to understand your audience and why they particularly chose to be in that specific social media channel that you plan to market your business on. The manner in which they use social media should also be looked into. For example, certain users prefer to be on Facebook and Instagram because it allows them to post more texts, photos, videos and create “MyDay” video and picture tidbits of your day and Instagram stories. By comparison, on Twitter they can only post up to 280 characters of texts (which includes links to other sites).

What does this tell you as a marketer? It shows you that one group of users prefer to be more bold and want to build their social media profiles more prominently, while the other group prefers the minimalist style of exposing themselves to the world. Some are just there to become amateur journalists and if we take Elon Musk’s statements about Twitter users being fake bots at face value, then some are there just to become spammers. This tells you to cater your ads to your audience differently in order to capture their interests.

2. Take Advantage of the Strengths of Each Channel

How users engage in ads on different social media channels will determine how your sales output will perform. It would be a very good thing if you did a feasibility studies about this, so you can do effective social media marketing on each social media sites and succeed. Every channel has different strengths. Many businesses use Facebook as a shop window displaying lots of key information such as their location, website and opening hours, so it helps connect with the brand.

Twitter’s strength is based on delivering information straight to the point in 280 characters or less and you make sure your ads are squeezed into these parameters. On the other hand, Linkedin is slightly more formal in tone but has some great tools for engagement like groups and polls, so use this tools to market your business. Now TikTok is the most unique of them all! On TikTok users are allowed to upload videos on a myriad of topics that range from 10 seconds – 3 minutes. But we also know that people nowadays have very short attention span, so you make TikTok video ads that are short but will include all the key points about your business for people to engage.

3. Interact with your Audience

The best thing that social media created is a place where businesses and their customer base can interact on a personal level. It also gives more power to the paying customer and demand more from the businesses that they patronize. A good example of this is PayPal. A good friend of mine told me that his financial issue on PayPal was resolved faster on Facebook or Twitter than by calling them over the phone. Back in the 1990s this would’ve taken someone a week to get resolved and this is not counting the communication between banks and the fintech third party business like PayPal. This is also true on various other businesses and their customer base.

You can also hire professionals on job boards like Upwork, Fiverr and ClousPeeps to handle all the customer service for your business on social media via chat. This means that you’ll also save money on hiring employees and put them on freelance work, instead of hiring people the traditional way and adhere to government mandated salary and benefits and so forth. Some of these contractors go above and beyond to please your customers, which not only makes them happy doing business with you but they keep coming back for more and become repeat customers.

4. Show There’s a Human Behind the Brand

It’s crucial for your business to survive by engaging with your audience in not just a professional way, but also being genuine and human. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you drive a friendly conversation with your audience on social media, preferably with a relaxed tone and letting that human side shine through; although there may be some exceptions, especially with what type of business brand you’re marketing.

Allowing the ‘human side’ to flow unrestrained when you’re a B2B brand means that you come as an honest person rather than a business entity in the eyes of your clients. When you’re a B2B company, you are not appealing to the other company/brand, you’re actually talking to the shareholders and employees working in that company. They are a different kind of customers that you’re trying to reach out to and it’s kind of like a B2B2C. That human side that we’re referring to is absolutely critical once your clients/customers calls in to complain about your products or services – it helps reassure them that their concerns are being seriously considered when they know there is a real person behind the account that they’re communicating with.

5. Ensure your Senior Executives are Authentic

Remind your company execs that despite you respect their personal space and private lives, when they post on social media they’re like politicians and any untoward or negative post or comment or even an emoji reaction can deeply affect the company, therefore they should be careful with what they post on social media. Make sure that you tell your executives to make their interactions on social media to be relatable to the customers in general in order to resonate with their audience.

Basically just tell them to be as authentic as possible as most people can detect their insincerity, which can hurt your company’s reputation. You may call for a meeting with your executives and discuss how they should post on social media; however, try not to takeover their accounts as you could be fighting yourself in that case and you may lose that authenticity that you’re trying so hard to implement among your subordinates.

You may also want to read "How to Setup a Limited Company Online"

6. Use the Right Tools

There are more than 133 social media sites operating on the web as of August 2022 and normally experts recommend that you only market your business on the top 20 of these sites. But managing even with just a fraction of these sites can be time-consuming and exhausting, and you will need tools that can help you manage your social media pages efficiently. Perfectly timed social media posts gets the greatest audience share according to experts, therefore you should use a scheduling tool to help you post important updates on the different time zones in the US and make sure that you post mostly in the morning at around 9 – 10am local time. There are quite a few on the market such as Loomly, Hootsuite and Meltwater. These allow you to spend a couple of hours scheduling all your content for the week ahead.

A sentiment analysis tool like Clarabridge or Onalytica may also be helpful in you calibrating your social media interactions and improve your business transactions with your customers based what people are saying about you on social media. Positive responses from your audience means that you’re on the right track and you ought to keep doing what you’ve been doing. However, if you receive negative feedback from customers and the general public, then this indicates that you need to step up your game in appeasing them. Come up with a sound strategy to win back the hearts and minds of the people to your brand and outmaneuver your competitors.

Lastly, keep track of each social media analytics as this can tell you your KPIs (key performance indicators), which areas are doing well and which areas needs your attention and improvement. If you pay attention to the tiniest of details and keep your ears to the ground, then you’ll do just fine with your social media marketing efforts and be on top of your competitors. Having said that, be creative in engaging with your audience and make your competitors stumble in keeping up with you, instead of the other way around.

7. Put the Effort in to Gain Value

Doing social media marketing and managing your social media pages requires a longterm commitment. You can’t expect to make a big splash in the water by just dipping your toes into it, the same way, you cannot expect to see great results with a few days’ worth of effort. It’s ironic isn’t it? Everything now is digital and can be accomplished with a push of a button or a few clicks of the mouse, and yet still, it takes months and sometimes even years to establish a strong business brand on social media while battling it out with your competitors.

Consistency and perseverance will definitely produce amazing results for your social media marketing efforts and you’ll be very happy after a year or two of doing this, because you will have reaped the benefits of your labor.

Dec 15, 2022
Dec 15, 2022

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Connecting the Business Through Effective Live Calls

Although it sounds similar, there are some fundamental differences between phone answering service and call center.

Who do you contact if you have a question regarding a product return policy? Booking a clinic or business appointment? Cleaning services, maybe? You make a call, right? Telephone answering services have significantly increased both locally and internationally over the past few years. Particularly for small businesses, services like call answering are increasingly pretty common.

Many people remain doubtful about the advantages a phone answering service delivers to small and large enterprises despite all the success and growth observed after using such a service.  Humans prefer to speak to humans. Clients, consumers, and patients often become irritated and hang up when they receive a voicemail or an auto-attendant.  

Do you know that missed or unanswered calls result in reduced revenue and even worse overall client satisfaction? In fact, according to surveys, one out of every three business calls is missed. That amounts to a third of your customers' unanswered calls, which can affect your company's reputation, brand, and sales.

With this basis, a phone answering service that accepts incoming calls on your account is an essential tool for improving communications, streamlining processes, and boosting revenue. You're missing out on great opportunities to build relationships with consumers and clients and expand your business if you use an automated system to handle phone calls.

Table of Contents

• What Example Industries Utilize an Answering Service?

• Captures more Business Opportunities

• Boost Productivity

• 24/7 Support

• Make a Positive Impression

• Reduce Business Expenses

• Maintain a Professional Image

What Example Industries Utilize an Answering Service?

Answering services are used by businesses of various shapes and sizes, from little startups with a few staff members to large corporations with thousands of employees. It exists in even one-person offices.

• Product manufacturers

• Realtors

• Event planners

• Physicians

• Dentists

• Veterinarians

• Churches and other religious-based groups

• Legal consultants

• Electricians

• Janitorial/Cleaning services

Think about the following six business perks of live call answering:

Captures more Business Opportunities

You will get a call by working with a phone answering service. Anyone in business is aware that sometimes it takes one phone call to close the deal you've been waiting to make or to delight a loyal client who might become your biggest supporter.

If someone attempts to call your company and no one picks up, it's detrimental to your brand and can suggest that you don't value customer business. On the other hand, it speaks highly of your company if a call is answered by a highly professional, competent receptionist who has years of experience and relevant industry knowledge. You won't ever have to worry about disappointing a customer since you can work in the confidence that a professional receptionist is available to answer your calls.

Boost Productivity

Every call is an opportunity to provide excellent customer service and boost sales, but sometimes picking up the phone can be an unpleasant distraction that you just don't have time for. And interruptions may be a serious challenge for a small business owner or a solopreneur, especially when you're in the middle of a meeting or working on a big project.

A phone answering service takes messages when you're not available, and prevents unpleasant sales calls. This allows you and your team to concentrate on the essential tasks at hand while still meeting the needs of your customers and clients.

24/7 Support

Any business has to provide excellent customer service as it is critical for company growth. Additionally, offering excellent customer service might provide you with a significant competitive advantage.

Keeping a dedicated team of customer service representatives available around the clock can help you provide the customized experience that both new and returning customers so greatly value.

Being accessible outside usual business hours is also very beneficial to your clients. Despite the growing trend of working shifts, many people find it more convenient to get in touch with a company in the evenings or on the weekends.

Make a Positive Impression

Live call answering promotes both word-of-mouth marketing and excellent customer service. Most of the customers say they will tell others about the good customer service they received. The number of potential prospects contacting your company increases for each caller who interacts with a helpful, knowledgeable business person.

Of course, there's a good chance that if someone has a bad experience contacting your business—if they can't get through or get an unhelpful machine—they'll also tell their friends, family, and coworkers about it.

Reduce Business Expenses

You might think that using a live phone answering service will increase your small business's expenses. But in fact, it can enable you to make financial savings. You can save money by not paying for missed calls and lost business by having someone answer your calls. Additionally, you can save money by not paying for additional employees to take care of your phone calls.

Maintain a Professional Image

One of the first things potential clients will take into consideration when choosing you is your business image. You want them to have the best image of your business possible whether they are calling to ask about your services or to place an order. By making sure that every caller is warmly welcomed and instantly assisted, a live phone answering service may assist you in creating a professional image. You can also include details about your company in your greeting, including your operating hours or a brief description of what you do.

The bottom line is that it's important to remember that calls are also an extension of the business. There are millions of people who want to speak with someone in charge, but they're not getting through. You need to demonstrate that you're ready to take care of them and make them feel valued the same way that you build confidence in managing your business well from calls to strategy, operations, and customer service.

Hopefully, this article has helped you decide if a live call answering service is the right choice for your small business if you're still undecided. There are plenty of advantages to using one of these services, and with the market's increasing competitiveness, it's more vital than ever to deliver good customer service if you want to maintain a competitive advantage.

Dec 6, 2022
Dec 6, 2022

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How a Business Address Service Help Boost Businesses in UK

There are a lot of benefits when registering your business address in the UK as a foreign business entity and we can definitely help you in that endeavor.

They say changes are the only constant in the world. We always see a lot of changes happening around us. Be it in medical field, transportation, technology and also in business management. People nowadays seems to be too smart to develop a lot of trends and ways on how to cope up with the fast-changing world.

But after all of these changes, the same old tasks in managing a business are still important, like sending invoices, answering calls for customers' inquiries and many others. Specifically for these reasons, virtual offices are born and created, which is very suitable for those who manage their businesses distantly and do not have a permanent location. This is a practical setup with a good effect for businesses. Having a business address is also a big help for startup businesses that want to endorse their brand and make a mark in the market.

A business address is an actual and private enterprise that provides a local representation for businesses that is not dependent of location. It is commonly found in a prime location so that it can establish a good reputation to the business itself. It is better for a business to have a virtual business address instead of using the owners' home address to gain their clients' trust and integrity without compromising the owner and employees' privacy.

Business address is an important part of identification for any business. It does not work only in promoting the business brand, but it also helps in establishing the tone of the business. Startup businesses should consider getting a virtual address because it will help them in their business address services. It is also a big help in the business search engine optimization (SEO). A good SEO optimize the business visibility online. This makes the business website visible to a lot of people online by increasing the online traffic. This gives a good opportunity for your products or services reach a lot more people which means more potential clients.

It will be helpful for business owners to know the advantages of having a business address. It might help them decide on what and where to get a business address that is perfect for their own brands.

Table of Contents

• Gives the Business a Good Reputation to their Customers

• Accomplish Work Remotely

• No Need to Travel - Helps Save the Environment

• Uplift Employees Contentment and Efficiency

• Be Able to Have the Best Talents

• Cost Efficient

• Ease in Growth

• No Long-Term Office Space Contract

• Professional Business Support

Gives the Business a Good Reputation to their Customers

A business address with a virtual office that is reputable and distinguished can guarantee that the brand's image is acceptable, reliable, and excellent. It will look more professional and legitimate to see a business address and office phone number included on the business cards, email, and website. Using a business address and phone number instead of owner's home address and mobile number will give a good impression to the business in terms of professionalism and credibility and will make the business more accessible to the customers and clients.

Accomplish Work Remotely

Since virtual office can be accessed online, the business owners can check the business status anywhere and anytime they want. This is a big advantage of having a business address with virtual office. Virtual office gives the owners the pleasure of working in a flexible setup. This is ideal for businesses that only need internet access in running it.

No Need to Travel - Helps Save the Environment

Having a virtual office can also be environmentally friendly. Since there is no traditional, physical office to go to, there is no need to travel. Reducing the times of travelling lessens the carbon dioxide emissions which also mean helping in eliminating air pollution. Working remotely saves travel time. There is no need to sit in traffic, wait for public transportation or be in a crowded train. The saved time can be used in other important things instead.

Uplift Employees Contentment and Efficiency

Happy employees mean good output at work. Having a virtual office has a lot of good sides to the business' employees. It gives them the luxury of time because they can work remotely from home. They can save money from not commuting and let them enjoy work-life balance. Employees can turn their workspaces at home to how they want it to be. This personalized space can make them more relaxed and happier, thus, making them more engaged and happier while working which will result to being more productive and efficient.

Be Able to Have the Best Talents

Being accessible anywhere, virtual office can reach a wider range of people, not only customers but also the best people that will perfectly fit on the positions of the company. Business owners can hire talented and smart people anywhere in the world since they can work remotely. They also don't need to move to bigger office when the business grows. The business success can be highly attainable.

Cost Efficient

It is a lot cheaper to have a virtual office than having a traditional physical office. A business owner can get a virtual office in a highly rated business address without paying as much as renting or buying a physical office in popular business areas. This gives the owners opportunity to allocate the budget they save from commuting and transportation, office rent, supplies and utilities, and many others. They can invest the saved money to their own business giving them more opportunities in growing the business and making it successful.

Ease in Growth

Having a virtual office give the business owners an opportunity to expand their businesses without the need of moving to a bigger office space. This is a good thing for the owners because they do not need to spend as much as they need if they are moving to a bigger traditional office space. In growing a business with a virtual office address, space does not restrict owners. They can expand their offices in a new location or have new several offices in different places while trying out the market.

No Long-Term Office Space Contract

Virtual offices are paid monthly. Because there is no physical office space, owners do not need to sign in a long-term contract for office space lease. All they got to do is pay for virtual office address as long as they need it which is a let risky.

Professional Business Support

One of the important extra features of virtual offices is their support for the business on small time-consuming tasks like answering clients' calls and sorting post. Business owners will enjoy 24/7 assistance.

Knowing all these advantages that virtual business address can offer, it will be easier for business owners to decide whether a virtual office can be beneficial with their own businesses. These benefits will allow them to focus on more important things and give satisfaction not only to the clients but also to their employees that is a big factor on growing businesses.

Nov 26, 2022
Nov 26, 2022

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Importance of Accounting and Finance Management in Business

Keeping your books in order can do a lot for your business, so hire the best CPAs to keep you in line with HMRC

Why do people start a business? How do they manage to sustain the business goals they set upon starting their own businesses? Business owners start a business mainly because they want to provide services to people and in return get some profit from those people who pay for the services they offered. Business owners should have a clear understanding how to grow their business, what strategies they need to do to grow it, and foresee where their businesses are heading to.

In order to do that, every business should have a good accounting and finance management. These two have a very important role in growing and planning strategies for the business. It is significant for the owners to know where their money is going and coming from so that it will be unlikely for them to lose control of their businesses. Good accounting and finance give them a chance to strategize to make sure the business continues to grow, and it can get through unanticipated financial mishaps.

Table of Contents

• Maintain and Keep Business Financial Records

• Compliance to Legal Business Laws

• Create a Financial Plan

• Analyze How the Business is Doing

• External Connections

• Internal Connections

• Creating Strategies

There are some of the reasons why good accounting and finances are important in business management. Knowing what a good accounting and financial management can do to businesses can guide the owners to have a successful and less stress journey in growing their businesses. Some of these are:

Maintain and Keep Business Financial Records

Keeping track of business financial activities can be done in accounting. Accountants and small business owners monitor the cashflows of the business' daily operation by using the balance sheet. If done correctly, this will be a great help for them to control the business financial future and will provide better understanding where the company's money is going and coming from. This will help eliminate the risk of spending and losing money in not value adding things.

Compliance to Legal Business Laws

Having an up to date, fact-based and truthful financial records will help a business comply with important business laws. Not paying attention to minor details can result to major consequence on a business tax management.

The managers in charge in finance need to have a good knowledge about the payments to deduct, the amount of taxes to be paid and the right time to pay those taxes. Some businesses even hire seasonal accountants that work for them to check the business financial records because the last thing a business owner wants is to have poor financial records because once they get audited and proven that they are not legally compliant, the business can face serious legal troubles.

Create a Financial Plan

Financial plan or creating a budget is what gives the business direction. To establish a good budget, it is important to use the financial records and have a good knowledge about the business cash flow. The budget provides the business owners idea about the present financial situation of the business and assist them in steering up the business towards the sustainable success and development.

There are few things to consider in making a budget for the business. Some of these are the profit, expenses, the future plan and foreseeing the unlooked-for adjustments. Keeping a good number on these things is important in managing business. It is necessary to regularly check the original business plan and make some adjustments along the way depending on how the accounting and finance status is doing.

Analyze How the Business is Doing

It is a good habit for a business owner to check how his business is doing. He can do this by assessing and comparing the past and present financial records of assets and liabilities and other aspects that involves cashflows. He can use that information to determine how the company is performing over a period of time.

These financial records give the business owners a chance to know what mistakes they did in the past and learn something from the past mistakes. They can also easily foresee the problem before it becomes a real actual problem. Having a good knowledge of the business financial status can also give the owners ideas on how to do improvements for the business.

External Connections

Financial information of a business is very essential in making deals and communicating with external parties. Correct and transparent accounting and finance management can be of good use when the business needs a loan from a bank or making a good impression to entice prospective investors.

A satisfactory financial management makes it simple for the business owners to show their external stakeholders the financial statements giving them a quick and easy overview of how the business is doing. The stakeholders and investors are given access to these reports for them to decide if they will continue being involved in the business.

Internal Connections

Internal stakeholders are important too in the business. Financial reports can also be communicated with them. This kind of information maybe essential for the employees who shows interest in stock-based remuneration and profit sharing. It is important for employees to know the positives and negatives of the business, and this can be done by being transparent about the financial records within the team.

Creating Strategies

It will be easy for the company to create good business strategies if it has a good accounting and financial management. Good strategies can be made if the business has a good accounting and financial records which are meticulously analyzed.

Knowing and understanding the business financial records gives more confidence to the owners to make reasonable and practical financial decisions about the smallest up to the biggest elements of the business that involves finances. Making a business budget is a serious matter. It should be well thought of because it is the business guide in making strategy and this strategy is the answer to a business' success and profitability.

Accounting, which is commonly named as the "Language of Business", plays a powerful role in a small business. This covers up financial data entry, summarizing, analyzing and investigating. These things are a big help to business owners, managers, and stakeholders to assess and understand the business financial health. Understanding the accounting and financial status of the business also helps them deal with the business problems well and give them the confidence they need in making strategic business decisions.

Nov 16, 2022
Nov 16, 2022

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Company Formation Case Study

For this case study, we featured one of our foreign clients who wants to establish a startup business in the UK.

Objective

For this case study, we will relate the entire experience of one of our foreign start-up clients who asked our firm to help them incorporate their new company dedicating its economic activity to invest in the services market. Particularly in selling software as a service (SAAS) for which they have developed an amazing software that will improve people’s lives.

Case Overview

The company is just coming out of a business accelerator program and wans to establish their brand in the UK and soon the world. They have developed an ingenious software that helps people with their daily lives, particularly in the area of giving the highlights of every city, town or county that a person visits. The software, which can be subscribed for a a certain amount each month, is designed to give the user an overview of the place that he or she is on, or is planning to visit. This is done so that the user doesn’t have to do a Google search or a Google Maps search and waste precious time looking for places he needs or wants to go (the SAAS is designed to work with Google Maps, by the way).

Challenges

The primary challenge of this startup company is to sell to as many people as possible in Google Playstore, Apple App Store, Huawei AppGallery and other app stores. But that’s not really something difficult to do as there have been many similar companies who sell SAAS and went through the same hurdles and succeeded. Basically the real challenge that this startup business will face is convincing people to buy a monthly subscription for their SAAS, as there are already free tools on the web to find hotspots that an individual might be interested to go to in various cities around the world.

Business Solution

We followed a specialized process for creating our client’s limited liability company (as a foreign entity doing business in the UK) and it’s pretty much straightforward. It involves a series of legal strategy that helps the client establish their business in the UK faster, so they can start marketing their product or service to the UK consumers.

Legal Strategy:

• Drafting and signing of a power of attorney

• Obtaining a UK Foreigner ID number (Biometric Residence Permits) for the partners of the LLC

• Obtaining a certificate for the denomination of the company

• Opening a bank account in the name and on behalf of the company, with the subsequent deposit of the minimum share capital

• Drafting of the Articles of Incorporation of the company

• Signing and registration of the Public Deed of the company at Companies House

• Obtaining the company’s Tax Identification number (TIN) at the HMRC

• We emphasize that the client did not at any time need to travel to the United Kingdom, as we could establish the company on his behalf without him leaving his country of residence.

Marketing

Among the company’s notable goals is to provide users with key specific information on certain places of interest (i.e. airports, train stations, bus terminals, hotels, restaurants, and others) that is not available on Google Maps, and/or will take too long to search on any search engine. For example, the company has a feature in its software up-to-date information on, say, flight schedules, available sitting positions, food served on the plane, travel time, the user’s carbon footprint left by boarding a specific flight and many other crucial information. Their SAAS cost $39.95 per month to subscribe and is renewable annually. They aim to cater to Western countries first as people in North America and Europe are the most inquisitive of the people on the planet, but they will soon offer their services worldwide.

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