What is a Virtual Office UK

Introduction

Growing a business is exciting and full of all sorts of decisions, one of those is when to get your own office. If you’ve reached that stage but are worried about what to do and the costs that go with it, a virtual office can help.

What is a virtual office?

Even though it’s called ‘virtual’, it is in fact a physical office based in a prestigious location. It gives you a trading and advertising address but without the worry of a long lease or expensive rents. There’s no long-term contract either as you can have a 30-day rolling agreement. Sounding good so far? – read on as there’s more.

You can use your virtual office address on your website, business cards, emails and socials. You can opt for other services too such as mail forwarding, a dedicated phone number and a call answering service. You can even take advantage of spacious meeting rooms when you need to meet and impress your clients face-to-face.

key features of a virtual office — Key Features of a Virtual Office

meeting room access — Meeting Room Access

Limited Companies – Registered Office Address

If you’re thinking of setting up as a limited company, you may have noticed recent changes to Companies House regulations about the types of addresses permitted for business registration. There’s no need to worry, though—it’s entirely legal to use a virtual office as your official registered business address with Companies House. Just ensure that any mail received at your virtual office will reach you and that the office can sign for deliveries when needed.

Using a virtual office as your registered office address is much better for your privacy. That’s because the address appears on the public register at Companies House so you probably wouldn’t want your home address shared in that way. It’s worth saying that you can’t remove your registered address from the public record so it’s best to get things right from the outset.

Virtual Offices and Remote Working

Working from Home or, ‘WFH’ as people like to call it, has become increasingly popular since the Pandemic. The digital age has helped us to work in this way as we can stay connected without the need to be side by side. Having a virtual office helps too as it gives your business a prestigious address which all remote workers can use on their correspondence. It also gives you a place where you can meet up from time to time for those all-important team meetings.

Who is a virtual office most suited to?

The simple answer to that question is it suits businesses of all shapes and sizes and any growth stage. Virtual offices are especially popular with startups providing a professional set up from day one. Equally, they are attractive to growing business and also overseas firms looking to establish a footprint in the UK. The appeal is quite simple really as the virtual office gives your business that professional look and feel in a cost effective and flexible way.

Planning for virtual offices

Like all decisions, moving to a virtual office needs thought and planning to deliver the benefits. This is more so if you have a number of people working remotely, and while there’s no hard and fast list of things to consider, here are a few tips to get you going:

- Get the most out of technology

To manage remote teams, it helps to use video conferencing, project management software, and virtual collaboration platforms. Spending a little on these technologies upfront should make things go smoothly. When used well, technology can close the gap created by physical distance, and result in collaboration that is just as good as working in person.

- Set clear goals

Virtual offices thrive when teams feel trusted and know what’s being asked of them through clear expectations and measurable goals. By focusing on results over physical presence, you can create a culture that values output over time spent in the office.

- Work on communication

Communication is important anytime in business but it’s probably more important in virtual settings. It pays to have regular check-ins, openness, and feedback loops to make sure everyone is on the same page. This approach helps prevent misunderstandings and keeps team members focused and happy in their work.

- Keep a cohesive team

There’s a little bit more to do on team cohesion when people are working remotely. It’s important to create opportunities for virtual team-building to get that inclusive culture. If geography is not too much of a challenge, it’s good to have regular get togethers too. This helps your team feel connected to your business ‘mission’ and one another.

- Manage burnout

It is possible for remote working to blur the lines between business and personal life and this can increase the risk of burnout. Its good to promote flexible working hours and encourage work-life balance just to make sure everyone is ok.

- Keeping things secure

Working remotely can result in transferring sensitive data across different networks. If this applies to you, its best to set up cybersecurity measures, such as VPNs, secure access protocols, and employee training on data protection. This helps to keep your data safe and to manage cyber and data risks in general.

Summing up

So that’s it. Hopefully you’ll have a better idea of what a virtual office is, its business benefits and how to go about planning for one. Setting up a virtual office couldn’t be easier. It’s one click or phone call away.

If you’re still unsure on all the ins and outs of a virtual office take a look at our FAQs. These are the questions that come up the most.

How can Virtual HQ help?

Here at Virtual HQ, we have over 140 premium locations to choose from to give your business the boost it needs. Our services are available from £25 per month and we offer a 30-day rolling contract to give you complete flexibility, or a 12-month option at a discount if you prefer.