Tide, a UK financial platform, has announced the launch of a virtual office address service, in partnership with Hoxton Mix, a virtual office address provider.
While the pandemic has been disastrous for many individuals and businesses, there has been a spike in entrepreneurialism in the UK, with the third quarter of 2020 (July – September) seeing 51,269 new companies registered, a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2019.
Tide has played a key role in helping these new companies to set up. Having launched a successful Company Formation service in early 2020, which is the first service in the UK to enable an individual to register their company and apply for a bank account in one go, for free (Tide covers the Companies House registration fee), Tide is now offering an additional service to those starting out in business.
To build out the service further, Tide has partnered with leading virtual office address provider, Hoxton Mix, to offer new business owners the opportunity to get a central London registered office address at the same time as they set up their business and apply for a bank account.
With many people starting new businesses from their homes, Hoxton Mix has seen huge demand for the service. There was a 259% increase in people registering virtual office addresses with them between April and November 2020 vs the same period in 2019. The businesses most likely to make use of a virtual office address include tech entrepreneurs, consultants, professional services and trade services.
George Schmidt, VP of Marketing, Tide, said: “Incorporating a virtual office address service into our company formation offering means Tide now makes it quicker and easier than ever for people to register a business and get themselves up and running. Since first introducing the service via Hoxton Mix in beta in September 2020, we have incorporated over 1,000 businesses with a virtual address.”
“We believe this high demand is due to a huge number of new businesses being started from within people’s homes. Having a virtual office address allows entrepreneurs to keep their personal data private and run a professional business. As the trend towards working from home seems set to continue, we expect to see increased interest in this service.”
Hoxton Mix has also observed a trend in established businesses opting to register a virtual office address over the course of 2020. This is largely due to businesses ceasing to use an office and choosing to work from home instead, securing a virtual office address to protect their personal address and retain a level of professionalism.
Chris Sees, Co-founder of Hoxton Mix said: “At Hoxton Mix, we are committed to helping SMEs manage their business operations by bridging the gap between technology and the physical workspace.
“We firmly believe in the power of partnerships, and Tide is one that shares our same values on entrepreneurship and SME growth. We are excited to partner with Tide and look forward to future innovation and providing virtual office solutions for Tide customers.”
