Can My Scottish Company Be Moved To England?

The UK has different company registries in Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This means if a company is registered in Scotland, they must have their registered office in Scotland and can't move their registered office in other jurisdictions.

A company cannot change the country of registration, so you can't transfer your Scottish company to England. You need to dissolve and re-register it in a country where you need to relocate. This is costly and time-consuming. Fortunately, there's a simple alternative. blog explains the process of transferring your Scottish company to England.

How to Transfer a Scottish Company to England

If you register your company in Scotland, it will be a Scottish limited company with a registered office address there. However, this doesn't dictate where your business operates from.

Therefore, you can run your Scottish company in another part of the UK, including England, and run your business there. Your company's registered address is a technical requirement with minimal impact on the business's day-to-day operations.

So, if you want to continue with your business operations when you relocate to England, you should follow the following steps:

1. Create a Scottish registered office address

If you're using your Scottish residential address as your registered office, you must change it when relocating to England. If you're using Scottish commercial premises as a registered office and intend to close this location, you must update your registered office address accordingly.

Suppose you want to change your registered office, open a Scottish registered office with a mail forwarding company before relocating to England. By this, you will have a Scottish professional registered office, and the mail forwarding service provider will scan and email you all statutory correspondence immediately after receiving it.

Changing your registered address requires passing a director or board resolution to authorise the address change. You must also inform Companies House by submitting form AD01 electronically. This will ensure that your new registered office address is updated in the public records.

2. Update your service address

The service address can be anywhere, but not necessarily in the same country where your company was formed. So, even if you're currently using a non-residential service address facility with mail-forwarding, you won't need to make any changes when you relocate to England.

But if you used a Scottish residential address as your service address, you may change it to your English home address. Remember to notify the Company House when you change your service address by filing form CH01 electronically. The address will also be updated in the public register.

3. Create an England business address

Setting up a new business address in England will be beneficial. It will help you create a local business presence in your areas, attract potential clients, and increase brand awareness.

However, if you have a Scottish non-residential address and would like to maintain it, they have emails forwarded to you in England. Maintaining the business presence in Scotland will help you keep current customers in Scotland who prefer trading with local companies.

4. Update the director's residential address

You must maintain one of the statutory company registers, which is the record of the director's usual residential address. This address is stored in a private register at Companies House. Although directors' home addresses are not publicly disclosed, informing the Companies House of any changes is mandatory. You do this by submitting form CH01.

5. Inform your business contacts and clients

You must inform your suppliers, customers, and service providers that you are relocating to England. Ensure you tell them about your plan to move and explain how this might affect your business relationships. If necessary, reassure current and potential clients that everything will continue normally.

Depending on the nature of your business, it may affect the availability, delivery time frame, and cost. So, you may need to review service agreements and contracts after you move. You must consider these practicalities to prevent disruption and unexpected expenses that may affect business operations.

Why can't a Scottish Company have an English Registered Office?

Although the Companies Act governs the UK's registered companies, different jurisdictions have their own laws and regulations. Suppose you incorporate your company in Scotland under the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, you're outside England and Wales, a separate but combined territory.

What does this mean?

• Any company registered in a single UK nation holds equal status to one registered in any other.
• A Scottish registered office cannot be moved to England since Scottish companies are registered in Edinburgh.
• Scottish company registration differs from English ones. Scottish numbers begin with SC, while English is entirely numerical.
• A Scottish registered company will not be available in England

With the above differences, your Scottish company can't have an English registered office despite being in the UK.

Incorporate Your Company with Incorpuk Today

At Incorpuk, we will help you file accurate information when you register your company through us. We will help you with incorporation articles, a registered office address, and all you may need to register your company in the UK. Contact our team if you seek any information; we will gladly assist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Scottish company a UK company?

Yes, a Scottish company is one of the companies incorporated in the UK. You register a Scottish company in one of the UK Companies House in Edinburgh, and it must have a registered office in Scotland. Northern Irish companies are registered at Belfast Companies House, and their registered office must be in Northern Ireland. English and Welsh companies are registered at the Cardiff Companies House and must also have their registered office in English and Wales.

Can a company registered in England operate in Scotland?

Although the UK has a single-wide company registration system and one registrar of companies, an English company cannot operate in Scotland because of different laws in England.

Can you open a company in the UK without being a resident?

Yes, you incorporate a company in the UK as a non-resident. However, you must fulfil requirements such as having a UK-registered office, which can be a virtual address or a loved one.  

Winding Up

It's impossible to physically relocate a registered office of a Scottish company to England due to different laws and jurisdictions within the UK. However, running your business from England is possible while maintaining your Scottish registration. You can do your business in England by following the above steps, like updating your registered office and service address. You must also inform your clients' service providers and adapt any operational changes to transition your company operation seamlessly. If you have questions about moving a Scottish company to England, don’t hesitate to contact us here, and we’ll do everything we can to help.