Special offers for Newcastle Start-up Week
When we were approached to support the first ever Newcastle Start-up week we were of course privileged to be asked, and it was a massive thumbs up from us! At Clavering House Business Centre we support hundreds of businesses every year, and as small business owners ourselves we know how much it means to have the opportunity to step outside of the day job to be helped and inspired!
Hats off to Paul Lancaster for getting this off the ground, and for what looks like a great programme of support for the Newcastle small business community.
Take advantage of free Clavering House hospitality
Much of the Start-up week activity is taking place at our neighbour The Boiler Shop. Clavering House is literally a stone's throw away, so we're offering Start-up Week patrons the chance to take advantage of free hospitality throughout the week. From Monday 15th May to Friday 19th May if you present your Start-up week ticket you can call in and use our hot-desks and superfast broadband *for free* as many times as you like.
You can book in advance or just call in any time to reserve your desk!
40% discount off NE1 mailing address for start-up week participants
For business owners with a Start-up Week ticket we're also offering you a huge 40% discount on our virtual office mailing address service. If you sign up by 31st May you'll pay only £15 + vat per month until the end of November 2017. After that you still get a great deal at only £25 + vat a month!
Find out more about our virtual office services here.
This is a huge benefit if you want the convenience and profile of a city centre office (Clavering House is a great place to virtually locate your business!) without the cost of hiring an office while you're getting started. You can also use our address as your registered office, removing lots of headaches associated with using your home address for your start-up.
Get in touch if you'd like to find out more.
Full details of the packed Newcastle Start-up Week schedule can be found here https://newcastlestartupweek.com/schedule/
Eric explains why he prefers an NE1 virtual office
Thank you to Eric Lloyd who took time out of his busy schedule running his office furniture consultancy business MKT Consult to explain why he prefers to use an NE1 virtual office address at Clavering House Business Centre (for a small investment of only £25 a month!) rather than renting an office in Newcastle city centre.
Eric explains why he prefers an NE1 virtual office ...
Virtual office customers have their say
We’re so pleased to have had amazing, positive feedback from lots of our customers about the virtual office services we provide to Newcastle small businesses.
These short videos give a small selection of the great comments we’ve received from four of our customers who run very different small businesses in Newcastle, and who’ve chosen to use the Clavering House Business Centre virtual office service, and run their business activities elsewhere. These are non-scripted and purely their own words, explaining a bit about the businesses they run and why they chose to use a virtual office in Newcastle rather than rent a serviced office, as well as providing their own thoughts on why Clavering House Business Centre works for them.
So over to them…
Thank you to Mel Philipson Jem NE CIC, Martin Underhill TemperTemper web design, Jayne Graham 2020 Consulting and Mark Gardner Afresh Solutions for their feedback!
If you’d like to know more about our virtual office services CLICK HERE or get in touch and we’d be happy to tell you more – you can enquire about our services HERE.
What is a registered office and why do you need one?
At Clavering House we have a lot of small business customers that are just starting out with their new businesses, and they often ask us about a registered office. Mainly, what is it, why do they need one, and whether a registered office is the same as a mailing address. So I thought it would be useful to set the record straight.
What is a registered office address?
When you set up a limited company, or a limited liability partnership, you are legally required to register the company at a nominated address in the UK. If your company is registered in England and Wales the registered office must be there too - so it can't be in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The registered address will then be displayed on any public records relating to your company. It will also be the address that Companies House and HMRC will use as your correspondence address.
Is a registered office address the same as a mailing address?
That's up to you. There are some restrictions on where your registered office can be. Assuming your mailing address fulfils the requirements of an office address, the two addresses can be one and the same. However some people choose to have their registered office address at one place and their mailing address elsewhere, depending on the needs of their business. So for example they may want a different business address to use on their website if it's more local, or more prestigious than their registered office address (just make sure you display your registered office address in your footer on your website and business stationary alongside your company registration number). Also you can use your home address as your registered office address, but may not want that to be the address you use on your website.
Where can my registered office be located?
You can use any physical address for your registered office address. So you cannot use a PO Box number or, for legal services, a DX Exchange number. There are lots of options you can use though. The decision really is whether you would be comfortable to have that address available for view by the public, in person or online. The most obvious place to have your registered office address is the place you run your business - your office address or your home address. Another option some small businesses choose to use is the address of their accountant, particularly useful for people running a business from home. Another option for home-based businesses is to use a virtual office mailing address.
Can I use my virtual office address as my registered office?
A virtual office isn't classified as a PO Box, so you should be able to use your virtual office mailing address as your registered office, as long as the mail is delivered to a physical building, and your business name is displayed. Just check with the virtual office service provider to make sure before you subscribe. By using a virtual office service for your registered office address and mailing address, you avoid the confusion of having two addresses associated with the business, and of course you can protect your privacy if you run your business from home. This option also gives you the option to change easily as you grow, particularly if the virtual office service can be subscribed to monthly.
How do I change my registered office address?
Changing your registered office address couldn't be easier. Just visit the Companies House website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/change-a-registered-office-address-ad01 and complete form AD01. You can do this online, or print out a form to complete and post back. The address is usually amended by Companies House fairly quickly, and you'll receive a letter from them to confirm it's been done.
15 useful facts about our virtual office service
Before you subscribe to a virtual office service with Clavering House Newcastle, you may have lots of questions you'd like to ask.
Please feel free to call or contact us at any time to clear up anything you aren't sure about - and hopefully, the following 15 useful facts will be helpful too!
1. What is a virtual office service?
The virtual office service at Clavering House Business Centre is available to anyone that needs the benefit of having a business base in Newcastle city centre, but without needing to pay rent for an office! The core virtual office service is the Clavering House mailing address that can be used by your business, no matter where you actually do business. You can use our address on your website, business cards, letterheads and invoices, and you can also make Clavering House your registered office address if you need to.
Other virtual office services include a telephone answering service, as well as meeting rooms.
2. What do I need to do to get started?
If you'd like to subscribe to our mailing address service, all you need to do is call into the office with some formal ID. We'll need to see your current passport or a valid driving licence, and a confirmation of your home address via a utility bill or bank statement from last 3 months. You do need to call in yourself, so we stay in line with our legal responsibilities, and once we've taken a record of your ID we will issue you an invoice for your first 3 months. Once you've paid we can get your service started (you can pay by card in our office or over the phone, or by BACs, whatever works for you). If you're ready to subscribe now, just call into the Business Centre or click here
3. What's the minimum time I need to subscribe to the virtual office service for?
You can subscribe for the virtual office service for 3 months or more. If you decide to subscribe for a full year, and pay for the year in advance, you'll receive a 10% discount on the cost as a thank you.
4. How much does a virtual office service cost?
Each element of our virtual office service is costed separately, so you can pick and choose whatever you need, as follows:
- Mail address and registered office address £30 + vat/month
- Telephone answering service £35 + vat/month
- Meeting rooms from £10 + vat per hour
5. How do I pay for a virtual office service?
You will be asked to pay 3 months service in advance when you subscribe to the core virtual office service. Towards the end of this period you will receive a further invoice for the following 6 months - this can be paid in one payment, or you can set up a monthly standing order to pay instalments over 6 months. We can also issue an invoice for 12 months, and if this is paid in full you will receive a 10% discount.
Some answers from Rachel
Watch this short video of Rachel, from our Clavering House team, answering some of your questions about the virtual office service
Mailing address service
6. Are there any limits to how I can use the Clavering House mailing address?
Not really, you can use the service in any reasonable way, to respond to the needs of your business - on your website, business stationery, invoices and so on. All we do ask is that you take into account that we have limited storage, so we aren't able to accept large volumes of parcels in one go.
7. Can I use Clavering House as my registered office address?
Yes, for a one off fee of £50 + vat. Many of our virtual office customers use Clavering House as their registered office address - this is the address they use for their business with Companies House.
8. What will happen if people turn up in reception and ask for me when I'm not there?
Although it doesn't happen very often, sometimes your customers and suppliers may call into Clavering House with the objective of meeting with you face to face. If this hasn't been planned, other than if we're under a legal obligation to do so (very rare!), we would simply let them know you're out of the office, and take a message that we can pass on to you. Discretion is our middle name!
9. Can I use the photograph of Clavering House on my website, as my business location?
Yes that's absolutely fine with us. We're proud of our prestigious Grade II listed building, and our location on the edge of the newly developing Stephenson Quarter in Newcastle, and would be happy for you to share that with us.
We'd also encourage you to verify your business on Google maps using our address for that too - that will help people to find you online.
10. How will I know when my mail has arrived at Clavering House?
You will always receive an email within an hour of your post arriving here at Clavering House. You can then arrange to collect it whenever it's convenient. We aren't allowed to forward your mail to you, but if it's urgent, with your permission we can open the post and scan it for you, on an exception basis.
11. What would happen if you received mail after my subscription to the virtual office service has expired?
During the first month following termination of your subscription, we will continue to let you know that you have received mail in the usual way. After that, we'll need to return it to sender, or agree a payment for the continuation of the service for as long as you need it.
Telephone answering service
12. Who will be answering my phone calls?
Your phone calls will be answered by the Clavering House receptionist in a professional manner, using whatever greeting you would prefer.
13. Will my company name be used when calls are answered?
Yes, we will always answer the call in your company name, and act as though we are the reception service within your own business. If you'd like us to follow a script when we answer a call, we can do that too.
14. Can calls be diverted to me once they are answered?
We can provide this service, and can discuss the additional cost of call forwarding to you should you need it.
15. How will I know who's called?
As soon as we've taken a call for you we will email you to let you know full details of who's called and a message so you can either act on the call or call back when you're free.
If you need to know anything else about our virtual office services just get in touch - we'd love to hear from you.