Can I move my limited company?

In the UK, there are three different legal systems which operate in Scotland, in Northern Ireland, and in England & Wales. That means that your company registered office, once formed and resident in one of those three, has to remain in that same jurisdiction forever. Moving within the same jurisdiction presents no problem.

However, you cannot (for example) move a company’s domicile from Scotland to England. That leaves two possible options to manage a change of location like that:

  • Incorporate a new company in the new jurisdiction, and dissolve the old company. That will also mean getting a new bank account and (if relevant) doing a new application for VAT registration.
  • Maintain a registered office facility in the old jurisdiction, and establish a trading address in the new one.

In either case, there is some admin to do. The first option may prove a little tedious as you explain to the bank and to the VAT office about the new business and your addresses for the last 3 years. The second one means paying a business for an accommodation address. There are dozens of companies who will provide that service, though some are better at mail handling than others.

The whole issue of a change of jurisdiction is a strategic management decision, and not an accounting matter. Hence we are unable to offer a recommendation.