Virtual office guide
Virtual office vs home address vs coworking
Three ways to give your business an address.
Your home address is free but public. A virtual office gives you a business address and keeps your home private for a small monthly fee, without a desk. A coworking space gives you a desk and often an address too, but costs more because you're paying for the space. Pick the one that matches how you actually work.
Home address, virtual office or coworking: compared
| Question | Home address | Virtual office | Coworking space |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | A small monthly fee | Usually the most, because you pay for a desk |
| Keeps your home private | No | Yes | Yes, if it includes an address |
| Registered office for Companies House | Yes | Yes | Sometimes, as an extra |
| Somewhere to work | Yes | No | Yes |
| Post handled for you | No | Yes | Often |
| Meeting rooms | No | Often in the same building | Usually |
Using your home address
It's free and it's simple. But if you run a limited company and use your home as the registered office or your director's service address, it's on the public Companies House register for anyone to find. It also goes on your website, invoices and online listings.
Some people also find a home address makes a business look smaller than it is, and it means customers, couriers and junk mail all come to your front door. If you move house, you have to update your address everywhere.
Using a virtual office
A virtual office gives you a real business address, without renting a desk. You can use it as your registered office, your business address and, with the right plan, your director's service address. You carry on working from home or wherever suits you.
At the Maggie O'Neill Centre, a virtual office in Liverpool costs £20 a month for Address Only, or £40 for Virtual Office with post opened and scanned and 2 free meeting room hours a month. Director's Coveradds your director's service address for £10 a month (£30 or £50).
Using a coworking space
A coworking space gives you somewhere to work outside the house, with other people around. Many offer a business address as an extra. You pay for the desk whether you use it every day or once a week, so it usually costs more than a virtual office.
It makes sense if you need to get out of the house to work. If you mainly want an address and somewhere to meet clients now and then, a virtual office and a meeting room by the hour usually cost less.
Which one is right for you?
- Choose your home address if you're a sole trader who doesn't mind your address being on your website and invoices.
- Choose a virtual office if you work from home but want your home kept private, a proper business address, and your post looked after.
- Choose a coworking space if you need a desk away from home most days.
Need to meet clients? At the Maggie O'Neill Centre, meeting rooms are in the same building as your virtual office address, from the Pod, a boardroom for 4. Need a desk of your own? See private offices. Or start with registered office address plans in Liverpool.