Changing your business trading address with a UK bank
A business can have several relevant addresses: registered office, trading address, correspondence address and the home addresses of directors or partners. When the business moves, update the correct records rather than assuming one change automatically updates everything.
For a limited company, a registered-office change must be filed with Companies House, and GOV.UK says Companies House should be told within 14 days of the change. The bank still needs its own records updated separately and may ask for evidence of the new trading location.
Identify every address record that has changed
A company can move its shop from one street to another while leaving the registered office at its accountant. That is a trading-address change, not necessarily a registered-office change. Conversely, changing the registered office from the accountant to a serviced office does not mean the warehouse moved.
List the addresses the bank currently holds and what each one is used for: legal correspondence, card delivery, statements, trading location and personal verification. Updating the wrong field can leave important post going to the old premises.
Make an address matrix before changing anything: registered office, trading address, correspondence address, directors or beneficial owners, card-delivery address and any merchant-services location. Mark which record changed and which did not. This avoids replacing a valid registered office simply because the trading premises moved.
Practical record: create a one-page checklist for changing a business trading address with the old detail, new detail, effective date, organisation contacted and confirmation reference. Give each step an owner. If a dependent payment or account action worth £1,152 is due within 6 days, verify that it uses the correct record before the deadline. This prevents a seemingly small administrative change from becoming a banking, correspondence or access problem later.
Update public records and the bank as separate tasks
For a limited company, Companies House records do not automatically rewrite the bank’s customer file. GOV.UK says a registered-office change must be notified to Companies House and the public register updated. Then follow the bank’s own process for legal and trading addresses.
Keep confirmation from both systems. If a bank review later sees the public record and its internal record disagreeing, you can show when each change was submitted and what remains outstanding.
Depending on the provider and account, the bank may accept an online change or ask for evidence such as a lease, utility bill, rates document or other proof. Requirements can differ for registered office, trading address and a director’s personal address.
Prepare the documents before the move if banking continuity is important. A business that needs new cards delivered to the new office next week should not discover on moving day that the bank still has the old correspondence address and requires verification.
Treat Companies House, HMRC, the bank and payment providers as separate systems. A filing in one place should not be assumed to flow automatically into the others. Record the date each change was submitted and any acknowledgement number so you can prove which organisation held which address at a given time.
Check connected banking services after the move
Cards, cheque books, merchant terminals, cash-collection services, finance agreements and insurance may each use an address. Accounting software and invoices may also need updating. The bank-profile change is one line in a wider moving checklist.
For an e-commerce business, also check payment-processor verification records. A mismatch between the bank account, Companies House and payment provider can trigger avoidable review at exactly the moment the business is moving premises.
Collect or redirect mail appropriately, recover old cheque books or paperwork and make sure former staff or landlords cannot access sensitive post. Banking letters can contain enough information to support impersonation even when they do not contain a full password.
If the old premises remain occupied by another business, treat the change as time-sensitive. Do not leave months of bank statements or replacement-card letters arriving there.
After the bank confirms the change, test the services that depend on the address: statements, replacement cards, merchant terminals, cash services, finance agreements and accounting integrations. A profile page can look correct while an older operational record still sends post or verification to the previous premises.
Practical record: create a one-page checklist for changing a business trading address with the old detail, new detail, effective date, organisation contacted and confirmation reference. Give each step an owner. If a dependent payment or account action worth £1,694 is due within 3 days, verify that it uses the correct record before the deadline. This prevents a seemingly small administrative change from becoming a banking, correspondence or access problem later.
Protect the old address and close the move checklist
Assign responsibility: Companies House filing, bank update, HMRC, insurers, suppliers, customers, payment processors and website. Record the date each change takes effect. This prevents the common situation where everyone assumes someone else updated the bank.
After the move, test practical outcomes. Check the bank profile, make sure new correspondence arrives correctly and verify that staff cards, merchant services and payment approvals still work.
Is a trading address the same as a registered office?
Not necessarily. A business may trade from one location and use another valid address as its registered office.
Does changing Companies House automatically update the bank?
No. Treat the public filing and bank customer-record update as separate tasks.
How quickly must a limited company tell Companies House about a registered-office change?
GOV.UK says Companies House must be told within 14 days of the change.
Protect the old address as a security task. Redirect or collect mail, recover old cheque books and paperwork, and tell staff who owns each part of the move checklist. Once the move is complete, confirm that sensitive correspondence no longer reaches premises controlled by a landlord, buyer or another business.
Practical record: create a one-page checklist for changing a business trading address with the old detail, new detail, effective date, organisation contacted and confirmation reference. Give each step an owner. If a dependent payment or account action worth £1,965 is due within 10 days, verify that it uses the correct record before the deadline. This prevents a seemingly small administrative change from becoming a banking, correspondence or access problem later.
Sources and verification
- GOV.UK - Make changes to your private limited company
- FCA - Financial crime guide: customer due diligence
Oliver Grant - Markets & Regulation Writer
I would never treat “change the business address” as one generic task. The bank can hold a registered office, trading address, correspondence address and personal addresses for the people who control the account. The safest process is to identify each field explicitly and update only what has actually changed. For a limited company I would also make sure the Companies House record is correct, because a public-record mismatch can make later verification harder. Before the move, I would check where cards, security letters and replacement devices are sent, who receives them and whether a postal redirect creates any security exposure. Businesses that bank cash should map the new deposit route and its limits before trading starts at the new premises. I would also keep one dated record showing when each external organisation was notified. If the bank rejects a document, ask which specific requirement it failed instead of repeatedly uploading alternatives. That turns a vague verification problem into a fixable one. The goal is continuity: customers keep paying the same business, authorised staff keep access, and no sensitive banking material is left travelling to an address the business no longer controls.
MyBankAnswers uses official provider and UK regulatory sources wherever practical. Information is general and does not constitute financial advice.