Choosing a virtual office address in London

Though working from home was a possibility before, businesses had to shift to remote working during the pandemic. With restrictions on the number of people in rooms for safe social distancing, businesses had to choose how much space they would actually need for an office. Not to mention, choosing the perfect office and location can be tricky when you’re in a large city that has many choices, like London.

This is where some companies started turning to virtual offices.

What are virtual office addresses?

Virtual office addresses created access for businesses to allow people to work from home safely and receive business mail, while still having a physical address in the UK's top location: London.

With these addresses, you get the flexibility to choose a business address that is professional and in prestigious locations to receive and manage your post from any location in the world without the added cost of central London prices. As letters arrive, your post is then scanned and uploaded to a portal or forwarded by email for you to read online, securely and from any connected device or location.

Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a virtual address in London:

1. Browse different companies that offer a virtual office space

Before you jump into any commitment, you first need to make sure you’re gathering all of the information you need about virtual office addresses. Visit and view different websites by searching for companies using your favourite browser. Pick at least 3 -5 different companies that look interesting to you and read their websites.

You can get a feel about how they seem as a company, will they be there for you if there’s any issues, what products or services do they offer, and so on. You can see how much they charge to use the virtual address per month, their forwarding services, and locations. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few companies that seem good to you, you can move onto the next step.

2. Choose the best company based on the services

After you’ve narrowed your choices of virtual address companies down, you can compare each company based on price, the locations they have, and any other extra services they offer. Keep in mind the needs of your business when choosing from the packages on offer. This includes how much they charge per month, the volume of post you need forwarded, and if they accept packages.

Once you’ve decided on the best company to go with, you can then move on to filling out their form.

3. Choose the location of your virtual address

With the virtual address company that you chose from the previous step, you can select the location that you would like to have for your business based on what they have. For instance, if your business resembles those that are on the high street, you can choose a location in a building that is prestigious. Or if your business is a bit more official, like a law firm, you can choose a professional building location.

4. Choose your mail package based on your company

Not all businesses are created equal, so the package shouldn’t be either! Figure out how much post you usually get, and choose the monthly mail plan based on that usage. If you think or know you’ll be receiving a post every day or so, it might be a good idea to choose a package on the higher end. If you think or know you’re going to receive the post less frequently, you can choose a package on the lower end.

You’ll also want to find out if the virtual address company will be forwarding the packages to you or if you will be needing to pick the package up. Don’t forget that you can always change your mail package plan needs as your business grows!

5. Submit your details

Once you’ve chosen your mail package plan, you’ll need to send in some information about yourself and your business to the virtual address company. This information is so the virtual address company knows a little more about your business, like the name of your business, and who the director is. With this information, the company will know where or to whom they need to forward the post or package to.

6. Create your account

When you’ve entered all of the information about your business, you can then move on to creating your account with the virtual address company. Once you do so, the company will issue the business address location that you’ve chosen!

7. Use the address

Congratulations, now you’re ready to use the virtual business address location! You can let your customers and clients know about your new virtual business address location, and even start putting your new virtual business address location on your products or paperwork!

Here are some benefits of using a virtual office in London:

1. Start a business

You can choose a virtual office address to start a business and provide its location in London. While this isn’t an office building that you can work out of, it is still a physical address that you can use on your post and any media.

This virtual address allows you to start a business without needing a physical office building in London so you can enjoy the prestigious London location without the high cost of renting an office building space in London. You also need a mailing address if you want to start a business or get it registered in the UK, so choosing a virtual office address is both cost effective and efficient!

2. Maintaining a presence in the UK when moving

Life happens, and sometimes you just want to move. You could move for various reasons like lower tax brackets, needing more sun, less winter, and so on. But you can’t always take your business with you if all of your clients are still in the UK. This is a great way to maintain your location in the UK so you can still receive mail from anywhere in the world.

3. As a virtual trading address

By having a virtual office address, you can put this location information on your business marketing materials and posts. This allows you the ability to keep answering and communicating with your clients or customers so you can keep a professional presence for your business.

4. Protect your privacy

If you’re a small business owner, especially if you’re just starting out, you might be working from your house. And since you have to disclose your address in order to start a business and get registered in the UK, this means making your private home address public.

With a virtual address, you can protect your privacy while still maintaining a professional business and working from home.

5. Have a presence in London

It is no secret that London is a prestigious location to be running a business. However, office building spaces that are available in London can be really expensive.

With a virtual address location, however, you get the best of both worlds! You can still work from home, and have a professional location in London, while being on a budget.

6. Save money

You can receive the post without the need for a costly physical office building location. You can reduce cost and enjoy the flexibility of working from home while still maintaining a prestigious location in London.

How much do virtual office addresses cost in London?

The prices of virtual office addresses can vary depending on the packages and services you’re looking for, and depending on the company that you go with. And, depending on your VAT registered status, location, and account type, will determine whether you’re liable to pay the 20% UK VAT. But virtual office addresses still cost much lower than having a physical office building location in London.

Prices typically start from £10 per month depending on the virtual office company and address you choose, along with the extra services.

As we can see, a prestigious virtual office address can increase the professionalism of your business, maintain your privacy over your house, and keep it all under a budget at a low price per month. Virtual office address companies will take in your post for you, scan it, and keep forwarding your post so you can continue answering your clients and provide the best customer service possible.