How is a winding-up petition served if the registered office is empty or has moved?

The Schedule 4 ladder in detail

Paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 requires service at the registered office by handing the petition to a person who acknowledges being, or is believed to be, a director, officer or employee, or who acknowledges authority to accept service. Where no such person is present, sub paragraph (2) permits deposit at or about the registered office in a way likely to come to the attention of a person attending. Where service at the registered office is not practicable, or there is no registered office, sub paragraph (4) allows service at the last known principal place of business or personally on an officer wherever that person may be found, and failing all else the court can order another method.

What the 2025 case law added

In DG Resources Ltd v HMRC [2025] EWHC 2208 (Ch), service was upheld where the petition was handed to a receptionist at a Companies House default address who confirmed she was authorised to accept it: acknowledgment of authority sufficed, and a company neglecting its registered office obligations could not exploit the resulting confusion. The lesson for creditors is that a professionally evidenced attendance, recording exactly who was found at the address and what they said, tends to be decisive.

Reconnaissance before service

Where Companies House shows a formation agent’s address, or intelligence suggests the company has moved, a pre service enquiry establishes what is actually at the registered office and where the principal place of business now is. That reconnaissance, followed by service up the Schedule 4 ladder with a detailed certificate at each step, prevents the adjournments and challenges that vague service reports invite. Our answer on who can accept service of a petition covers the categories of recipient.