The registered office is your company’s official address, where legal letters and notices are sent. Your company must also keep certain records, and these must be kept in an approved location. If you change either, you must tell the register. We prepare these filings so your company can always be reached and its records are easy to find. Forms covered: AD01 to AD05.
AD01 is made under section 87 of the Companies Act 2006 and is used to change a company’s registered office address. It cannot be used to change the registered office address of a limited liability partnership; form LL AD01 is used for that. The form can be filed online through the WebFiling service.
The form does not print a deadline. The change in registered office address does not take effect until the Registrar has registered the notice.
The company name and number must match the public register, the new registered office address must be given in section 2 and must be in the part of the UK where the company was registered, the confirmation in section 3 must be ticked and the form authenticated.
Section 1 gives the company number and name. Section 2 gives the new registered office address (building name or number, street, post town, county or region, postcode and country). The form warns that a home address used here will be available on the Companies House website and cannot be removed, that the change does not take effect until the Registrar has registered the notice, and that a person may validly serve any document on the company at its previous registered office for 14 days from the date the change is registered. An England and Wales company’s address may be in England or Wales, a Welsh company’s address must be in Wales, and a company registered in Scotland or Northern Ireland must use an address in Scotland or Northern Ireland respectively. Section 3 is a box ticked to confirm that the new address is an appropriate address under section 86(2) of the Companies Act 2006, meaning that a document delivered there by hand or post would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company and that an acknowledgement of delivery can be obtained. Section 4 is the authentication by printed name (no signature is needed), given by a director, secretary, person authorised (under section 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006), liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver manager, Charity Commission receiver and manager, CIC manager or judicial factor (for a United Kingdom Societas, ‘director’ is deleted and the organ of the UKS of which the person authenticating is a member is inserted).
AD02 is made under sections 114, 228, 237, 358, 702, 720, 743, 805, 809 and 859Q of the Companies Act 2006 and is used to tell Companies House the address of a single alternative inspection location (SAIL) where company records may be kept for inspection. It cannot be used to give the address of a location outside the part of the United Kingdom where the company is registered. The form can be filed online.
The form does not print a deadline, and the guidance reviewed does not give one.
The company name and number must match the public register, the address of the SAIL must be given in section 2 and be in the part of the UK where the company is registered, and the form must be authenticated.
Section 1 gives the company number and name. Section 2 gives the address of the SAIL (building name or number, street, post town, county or region and postcode), being the alternative to the registered office for inspecting the company records. The form states that the SAIL must always be in the part of the United Kingdom in which the company is registered, and that the records which have moved to the SAIL are notified on form AD03, which must be filed if one has not previously been filed. Section 3 is the authentication by printed name (no signature is needed), given by a director, secretary, person authorised (under section 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006), liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver manager, Charity Commission receiver and manager, CIC manager or judicial factor (for a United Kingdom Societas, ‘director’ is deleted and the organ of the UKS of which the person authenticating is a member is inserted).
AD03 is used under sections 114, 228, 237, 358, 702, 720, 743, 805, 809 and 859Q of the Companies Act 2006 to tell Companies House which of the company records are held at the SAIL. It cannot be used to say which records are returning to the registered office; form AD04 is used for that. The form can be filed online.
The form does not print a deadline, and the guidance reviewed does not give one.
The company name and number must match the public register, the relevant boxes in section 2 must be ticked and the form authenticated.
Section 1 gives the company number and name. Section 2 lists the company records now kept at the SAIL, with a box ticked for each as appropriate: register of members; directors’ service contracts; directors’ indemnities; records of resolutions etc.; contracts relating to purchase of own shares; documents relating to redemption or purchase of own share out of capital by private company; register of debenture holders; report to members of outcome of investigation by public company into interests in its shares; register of interests in shares disclosed to public company; historic register of members; and copies of instruments creating and amending charges. Section 3 is the authentication by printed name (no signature is needed), given by a director, secretary, person authorised (under section 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006), liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver manager, Charity Commission receiver and manager, CIC manager or judicial factor (for a United Kingdom Societas, ‘director’ is deleted and the organ of the UKS of which the person authenticating is a member is inserted). Form AD02 must be filed with this form if one has not been filed previously, and records already notified on an earlier AD03 do not need to be listed again.
AD04 is used under sections 114, 228, 237, 358, 702, 720, 743, 805, 809 and 859Q of the Companies Act 2006 to tell Companies House which company records are returning to the registered office. It cannot be used if the company records have always been at the registered office. The form can be filed online.
The form does not print a deadline, and the guidance reviewed does not give one.
The company name and number must match the public register, the relevant boxes in section 2 must be ticked and the form authenticated.
Section 1 gives the company number and name. Section 2 lists the company records now kept at the registered office, with a box ticked for each as appropriate: register of members; directors’ service contracts; directors’ indemnities; records of resolutions etc.; contracts relating to purchase of own shares; documents relating to redemption or purchase of own share out of capital by private company; register of debenture holders; report to members of outcome of investigation by public company into interests in its shares; register of interests in shares disclosed to public company; historic register of members; and copies of instruments creating and amending charges. Section 3 is the authentication by printed name (no signature is needed), given by a director, secretary, person authorised (under section 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006), liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver manager, Charity Commission receiver and manager, CIC manager or judicial factor (for a United Kingdom Societas, ‘director’ is deleted and the organ of the UKS of which the person authenticating is a member is inserted). If form AD03 has not been filed previously, one must be filed with this form to show which company records are held at the SAIL, and records already notified on an earlier AD04 do not need to be listed again.
AD05 is made under section 88 of the Companies Act 2006 and is used to change the situation of the registered office of a company registered in England and Wales to Wales, or of a company registered in Wales to England and Wales. It cannot be used to change a registered office address; form AD01 is used for that.
The form does not print a deadline for the notice itself. A copy of the special resolution must be sent to the registrar within 15 days after it is passed or made.
The company name and number must match the public register, one box must be ticked in section 2, an AD01 filed with this form and a change of name filed to change the name ending before submitting this form, if appropriate, and the form signed. A person authorised is one authorised under section 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006.
Section 1 gives the company number and name. Section 2 states that a special resolution was passed to change the situation of the registered office, with one box ticked: England and Wales to Wales, or Wales to England and Wales. A copy of the resolution must be sent to the registrar of companies within 15 days after it is passed or made. A company changing from England and Wales to Wales may end its name with the English or the Welsh name ending, whereas one changing from Wales to England and Wales may only use the English ending, and if its name currently includes the Welsh ending a notice of change of name must be filed before the form can be registered. It is a breach of company law for an England and Wales company to have a Welsh name ending. A Wales company’s registered office address must be in Wales, so an AD01 may need to be filed at the same time if the new situation is inconsistent with the physical location of the address. The Registrar issues a new certificate of incorporation to reflect the change. Section 3 is the signature on behalf of the company, given by a director, secretary, person authorised, liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver manager, Charity Commission receiver and manager or CIC manager (for a Societas Europaea, ‘director’ is deleted and the organ of the SE of which the signatory is a member is inserted).