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It is reported that personal bankruptcy has increased massively over the last five years.The latest figures from the government show that 27,029 people have become insolvent between April and June. This is a large increase, 5.1% when compared to the same period in 2013.Insolvency figures in Scotland has actually fallen to it lowest figure since 2005.The figure is said to be increased due to the large number of IVA`s (individual voluntary arrangements). IVA`s were created in 1987 to help people avoid being declared bankrupt. The number of people taking out IVA`s rose to 14,571 in the last quarter.The actual number of people declaring themselves bankrupt (insolvent) has increased for the first time since 2010, 0.2% of the adult population has declared themselves bankrupt.The number of bankruptcies hit an all-time high in 2009 with over 35,000 and has been on a gradual decline since 2009.This is stark contrast to business insolvency which has been on a continual downwards path. Companies going into administration have fallen by over 35%, which is the lowest figure for over 9 years.If you would like professional advice on Company Formation, administration or any of the supplementary services Your Virtual Office London provides, please do get in contact.We provide registered office address services in London for Limited companies which can help make your business appear more professional, helping you to increase your profits.If you found this blog interesting you can read more on our business blog here.

Our professional call answering service can be used by many different types of customer. Small businesses can really benefit from our telephone answering service. We provide a London telephone which is answered by your own PA, giving the impression to your clients that you have your own professional staff taking your calls.It is very important in business that you portray an efficient image, customers are very wary of small outfits especially when large amounts of money are in involved. Customers will tend to shy away of one man bands, our telephone answering service can really help boost your businesses image and give the right impression to your prospective clients.

How do you handle the calls?

Our telephone answering service is simple and effective. We provide you with a London telephone number which is solely yours. You then inform us how you would like the staff to answer your calls, a greeting such as “Hello, you are through to ABCD Limited, how can I help”. You can then decide if you would like us to take a message or you, or transfer the call live to your phone. If you prefer us to take a message, we can then reply with a message such as “The director is busy at present, would you like me to take a message?”.

Call Transfer Features

Once your client has been greeted on the phone by our trained professional PA`s, we can then transfer the call live to your phone, either mobile or landline. This gives the impression that you are in the same office and that the call is being transferred to your desk, again this gives the impression of professionalism and efficiency. There is an extra charge for call forwarding, as this is classed as an outbound phone call which is charged at the current rates.

What happens to out of hours calls

For clients who call your number when the office is closed, the call will be diverted to your personalised voicemail. You can customise your greeting, or for an extra fee we are able to get a professional presenter to pre-record you a voicemail message. The voicemail box is pin protected for added security.

Some Features of the call answering service

Unlimited Volume of CallsPrivate & ConfidentialNative English SpeakersPrivate Pin Protected MessagesReal London based team – no outsourcingYou can read more on our Call answering service with London number here. If you found this blog helpful you can read more on our business blog.Your Virtual Office London is a leading force in company formation and virtual office services. If you have any questions please do get in contact with us, our trained team are on hand ready to take your call.

The amount of products sold in the UK`s shops is continuing to increase according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). UK Retail Sales have increased by 0.1% in June, meaning they are 3.6% higher when compared to one year ago.The sales increased by 1.6% in the second quarter, this was by far the largest increase for at least 10 years.UK retail sales have been increasing steadily since the end of the recession in 2009. The sales figures have been very strong in 2013 and are continuing to get better.This is attributed to the economic growth in the UK, unemployment lowering and an increase in the population and the amount of people actually working.If you found this economy post interesting you can read more economic and business news in our business blog.Your Virtual Office London, leaders in professional business services.

Our mail forwarding address can be used by a personal customer for private use. If you are a personal customer who wishes to use our service, that is fine, we do not restrict our mail forwarding service to just business customers.

Why would I want to use your mail forwarding address?

There are many good reasons why you would want to use the address for personal use. Many of our personal customers use the London mailing address when they move home. If you move home you may want to have another address you can use to have mail redirected too. Our mail box allows all of your personal post to be redirected to our prestigious address.If you rent a property and it is on a short term basis then you may want more security when it comes to your mail. Our mail box service provides excellent security for your mail and you are able to collect your post from our office premises in London. You can also choose to have the mail forwarded to any location worldwide.Travellers also use our services, if you are travelling the globe you may want to have some post forwarded to you at one of your foreign destinations. Our mail forwarding service will collect your post and then forward this to an address of your choice. This is very important for some customers so that they don`t miss any important bills or letters that may be of up most importance to them.

A few advantages of our mail forwarding service:

• Affordable
• Prestigious London Address
• Mail Forwarded Worldwide
• Private, Confidential & Secure
• Cheaper than Royal Mail
• Collect mail from our offices
• 3, 6 and 12 month contract options available
• Parcels & Signed For post accepted
• Instant Activation

I`m interested in your mail forwarding service, what next?

If you would like to proceed with our London mail forwarding service you are able to purchase online via our website. You may find it beneficial to speak to one of our staff first who can help explain the product in greater details and talk through the process. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us, we are always happy to help.Your Virtual Office London is a leading virtual office provider, if you found this product post helpful you can read more in our business blog.

A director's service address can be purchased at any time before, during or after you have formed a company. A director is required to add an address at Companies House, this is a legal requirement. Statuary mail from HMRC or Companies House would then be sent to this address.We would recommend that you purchase the directors service address before you form a company for some very good reasons.If you want to use a director`s service address to protect your residential address and you have already formed a Limited Company at Companies House, the address already used will be permanently on record. So for example you have just formed a Limited Company using your residential address as the directors address any changes to this will still show the original address and the date of the change, as well as showing the new address.

Who can access my address?

Your Limited Companies information is stored on the company register and this is a public record. A public record can be accessed by anyone, most people these days will access the record via the web check service provided by companies house. This will show information such as the Company Name, Number, Date of Incorporation, Directors Details, and even financial information.We strongly recommend using our directors service address in conjunction with our registered office address to help protect your residential address from public view.

Benefits of using our Director's Service Address

• All mail from HMRC and Companies House forwarded free of charge to any location worldwide
• Mail can also be collected from our London office
• Our service offers complete anonymity to all clients
• Having a London address in a prestigious area adds real credibility to your business operation

If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in this blog post, please feel free to get in contact with us. We provide leading services such as mail forwarding addresses in London, registered office address, company formation and accounting.If you would like to read more on our service, why not try our business blog? It`s informative and an excellent resource for start-up businesses.

When do I buy a registered office address for my company?

A registered office address can be purchased at any time during your Limited Companies life time. However we always recommend that if you are forming a Limited Company yourself, that you register your company address with our London office service in advance.There is good reason why we recommend purchasing the registered office before forming a company at Companies House for good reason; it will save you time and keep any private addresses of public record.When you register a company for the first time at Companies House, they legally require you to state where your companies registered office is located. If you don`t have a registered office address service, then you will normally place your residential address in this section. This information will be stored permanently on public record which can be searched at any time by anyone via Companies House web check system. Even if you decide to change your registered office address at a later date, the search will still show the change of address and will list your original address on record.Many of our clients use our registered office address service to keep their residential address private and off searchable records, so its thoroughly recommend that you purchase our service before forming a Limited Company.

Benefits of using our registered office address.

1. All statutory mail is forwarded to any location worldwide for free
2. Receive HMRC post at this address
3. Mail can be collected from our offices
4. Completely private and confidential
5. Prestigious London address available
6. Instant creditability for your prospective clients

Why you wouldn`t want to use your residential address

1. Unwanted callers could turn up
2. Junk Mail
3. Legal action aimed at you residential address

Your Virtual Office London is leading expert in company formations and supplementary services for both Limited Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships. If you would like further advice on our registered office address services please do get in contact with us.If you found this post interesting, you can read more in our business blog.

This comes from Which? Who suggest British people are getting an unfair deal when compared to products in the US, which are a lot cheaper. UK customers are paying literally hundreds of pounds more for an electronic gadget, when compared to US customers.The report by Which? Compared prices from various products such as computer software, televisions and other electronics. It concluded that the UK consumer was over paying for many of these products. In once instance Which? has shown that consumers where paying over £400 more for one television from a popular brand. A MacBook was found to be £194 more in the UK when compared to the price in the US.Which? have said that this is down to the manufactures and that they should play fair and explain exactly which some cost more in other countries. Another issue is the current threshold on import duty, its recommend it should be brought inline with good that`s are purchased online and then brought back into the UK. The threshold at the moment is £135 for electronics purchase online from a country outside the EU however if you travel you can bring in goods with a value of up to £390 without paying any duty.If you found this Your Virtual Office London blog interesting, you can read more business and economy posts in our informative blog.

A director of a company has different options when it comes to pay. Each option has different tax benefits. It is very important to be clear on what method you will chose as your accountant will need to know this.

Dividends

A dividend is rewarded to shareholders. An owner of a Limited Company is a shareholder and they will be able to pay themselves in the form of a dividend.An advantage of a dividend is that you do not pay any national insurance on the payment. You will need to pay income which does depend on the level of your earnings.A dividend will need to be paid to all shareholders of the company, this will need to be declared in the minutes of the meeting you will hold with the other directors.Legally a dividend voucher must be created which would show some important information such as the date is was issued, the company details i.e name and number, the shareholders details and the amount the dividend is.

PAYE

Pay As You Earn (real time). PAYE is a HMRC scheme to collect National insurance and income tax for employees of a company, including staff and directors. You will need to register for this scheme, if you`re the owner of a Limited Company you will be classes as an employer and employee.When you pay yourself a monthly salary, you will need to send a PAYE return to HMRC which will show the amount you have paid, including tax and deductions. Again the amount of National Insurance and income tax will depend on the tax code and your tax status.If you need help with your companies accounts please speak to us today. We offer free and impartial advice, our business accountant can help with PAYE registration and can help explain your current tax status and how best to optimise your current situation.If you liked this accounting blog post, you can read more from Your Virtual Office London blog.

The UK economy posted the fastest growth in the G7. It`s predicted that the economy will grow quicker than any other economy in the G7 in 2014. The UK`s GDP will reach 3.1% which is a direct result in capital investment.In comparison Germany is only expected to grow at 1.8%, the item body has forecasted.The GDP rose by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2014, this is the fifth consecutive quarter of growth which equated to the longest growth run since the banking crisis. The same people who have forecasted the growth for the UK have also stated that the interest rates would not rise in 2014, remaining at the record low of 0.5%.Inflation figures post last week did show a large increase to 1.9% in June, which was up from 1.5% in May. It convinced many that the Bank of England would raise rates in order to curb the inflation. However the same people who have predicted the UK`s growth have suggested that inflation rates were over pessimistic, and that they actual inflation on wages was only 0.7% which did exclude bonuses.If inflation is low and the UK has a strong pound, combined with risks from the Eurozone would suggest caution in any interest rate rise.There is also some great news for workers, it is predicted that real incomes will actually grow over inflation over the next two years.If you found this economy blog interesting you can read more informative articles on our business blog. Your Virtual Office London supporting British Businesses.

We provide three different address services. We provide a London office address for trading businesses, a registered office address service and a director`s service address. All three are different from each other and have key features which are important to understand.The first question you need to ask yourself is what type of business are you? Are you a Limited Company, Partnership or sole trader? (There are more legal entities to the ones we listed but these are the main types our customers own).If you are a Limited Company you will be able to choose all three services. The our central London office location is for your company registration, this is the main address that is required legally by Companies House. This address is on public record, the registered office address will be used to send you legal letters and statutory mail such as Tax Returns from HMRC& company documents from Companies House. The advantage to using our registered office address service in London is that it instantly takes your personal address of record; this has obvious benefits and keeps your address private and secure. Another benefit is that it looks very professional; our address situated in London is in a vibrant and affluent business start-up area which will instantly give your company an excellent image to prospective clients.Again if you`re a Limited Company our Directors Service address is similar in terms of function to the registered office address. When you register a limited company through Companies House, you will need to list at least one director. When you list this director Companies House will require you to input contact information such as where the director is located. Our director`s service address allows you to place our prestigious London address instead of your own. Again the same benefits apply to this as per the registered office address; it takes your personal address of public record and makes you look more professional.Our London office address for trading businesses is for Limited Companies, sole traders and even personal customers. This is simple a mail address that allows you to receive your post at our London office address. This has many benefits such as making your business look established, if you`re a personal customer this can help if you are in many locations and need a central point to pick up your post form. Many customers use this address as their main office location, if you are based in another city, having the capital as another option for your customers makes your business operation look more professional, helping them to have trust in your business. For full features please view our London office address package page.If you have any questions about Your Virtual Office London packages, please get in touch with us today. Our team are always happy to take your call, or if you prefer, drop us an email and we aim to respond same day to all emails during working hours.If you liked this blog post, you can read more in our informative business blog.