Changing a business address: update Companies House and the bank separately

A company can change its registered office, trading address or correspondence address without changing its legal identity. But Companies House and the bank hold separate records. Updating one does not guarantee the other will change automatically, so the move needs a controlled financial-admin checklist.

Companies House must be told about a registered-office change within 14 days

Companies House guidance says a company must report a registered-office address change within 14 days of the change taking place. The registered office is part of the public company record and must meet the statutory requirements for an appropriate address.

File the change promptly and keep confirmation with the company records. If the move affects only the trading premises while the registered office stays with an accountant or solicitor, a registered-office filing may not be needed. That is why the finance team should identify exactly which company address is changing instead of treating every office move as the same legal event.

Notify the bank because its customer record is independent from Companies House

Business.gov.uk lists the business address and correspondence address among the information banks commonly require for a business account. HMRC's July 2026 anti-money-laundering guidance says regulated firms should keep customer due-diligence information up to date and respond when customer circumstances change.

Contact the bank through its official business channel and ask which address fields it holds: registered office, principal trading address, correspondence address and card-delivery address can be different. Update all relevant fields rather than assuming a single edit changes every record.

Keep registered office, operating location and mailing address distinct

A company can have a registered office at an accountant's premises while trading from a warehouse elsewhere and asking the bank to send correspondence to a finance office. Those are three different functions. Record them clearly in the company administration file so employees do not overwrite the wrong address during a bank update.

This matters when the business has several branches. Moving one shop does not necessarily mean the company itself changed its registered office. Conversely, moving the registered office from one professional adviser to another may have no effect on customer-facing trading locations.

Expect the bank to ask for evidence where the address change triggers a KYC refresh

Providers can request updated company documents, lease evidence, utility information or other proof depending on their risk process. HMRC's ongoing-monitoring guidance says due-diligence records should remain current and expired documents should be replaced where relevant. A change in circumstances can be a trigger for review.

Prepare the Companies House confirmation and evidence of the new operating address where applicable. If the move also changes country, ownership or business activity, tell the bank explicitly because those facts can affect the account's risk profile. Do not describe a major international relocation as merely a postal-address update.

Update cards, merchant providers and finance software connected to the account

Check the billing address on business cards, merchant-acquiring profiles, payment platforms, expense software and accounting integrations. A mismatch between the bank's current company address and a merchant provider's old record can create verification problems when a new terminal, card or user is requested.

Update invoice templates and supplier records separately. The bank does not control the address printed on invoices, and changing accounting software does not update Companies House. Use a single move checklist covering legal, banking, payroll, tax and commercial systems so the address remains consistent across the organisation.

Protect mail, cards and authentication devices during the move itself

Before the old premises are vacated, identify anything the bank still sends physically: replacement cards, PIN mailers, hardware tokens, formal notices or cheque books. Change delivery addresses before ordering replacements and arrange secure mail forwarding where appropriate.

After the move, download a bank statement or account profile and confirm the new address appears correctly. Test one card replacement or provider message if the account is operationally important. A move should be considered complete only when both the public company record and the private banking record point to the intended addresses.

Keep the effective move date, Companies House filing date, bank-notification date and confirmation date in one short log. This becomes useful where correspondence crosses the transition period. If a replacement card was posted to the old premises three days after the legal move, the company can see whether the bank had already been notified and whether the problem came from timing, provider processing or an incomplete address update.

For groups with several companies at the same premises, repeat the change by legal entity. Updating Parent Ltd does not automatically change Subsidiary A or Subsidiary B. The same applies to merchant accounts and finance facilities. A shared office move can therefore require several separate customer-record updates even though all companies physically relocate together.