Signatoro

UK company email signature requirements

Company law requires certain details on business correspondence, including email, and a link to a page that has them is generally not treated as good enough.

Under the Companies Act 2006 and the Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008, UK companies and LLPs must show their registered name, company number, place of registration, and registered office address on business email, in characters readable with the naked eye. This applies to every team member sending external business email on the company's behalf, not only directors.

Who this applies to

The Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008 (SI 2015/17, as amended) apply to UK companies and LLPs, on business letters and, per the Regulations and guidance built on them, on electronic communications used in the course of business, including email. It covers everyone who sends an external business email for the company, not just directors or officers.

What it actually requires

Registered company name
The exact registered name of the company, as it appears on the register at Companies House.
Company registration number
The number assigned by Companies House at incorporation.
Place of registration
Where the company is registered - England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
Registered office address
The company's registered office address, as recorded at Companies House (which may differ from a trading or correspondence address).
Readable in the message itself
The information has to appear in characters that can be read with the naked eye in the communication itself - guidance on the Regulations treats a link to a webpage carrying the details as generally not satisfying this on its own.

Myths we hear often

The myth

A link in the footer to our "About" or "Legal" page satisfies the trading disclosure rules.

What the source actually says

Guidance on the Trading Disclosures Regulations treats the requirement as needing the information readable in the communication itself, in characters visible to the naked eye - a link the recipient has to click through is generally not treated as meeting that on its own.

The myth

Only the CEO or directors need this in their email signature.

What the source actually says

The Regulations apply to business correspondence sent by the company, and guidance on them describes the requirement as reaching every team member who sends an external business email on the company's behalf - not only directors or people with a specific title.

The myth

Our marketing address is fine to use instead of our registered office.

What the source actually says

The requirement is specifically for the registered office address as recorded at Companies House, which can differ from a trading address, a marketing address, or a satellite office - using the wrong address does not satisfy the rule even if it is a genuine company address.

A worked example

A fictional example: Corrigan & Vale Ltd
Corrigan & Vale Ltd, a fictional UK design consultancy registered in England and Wales, sets one company-wide email signature line beneath every employee's name: "Corrigan & Vale Ltd, registered in England and Wales No. 01234567, registered office: 4 Larch Court, Bristol BS1 1AA." It appears as plain text in every external email, not behind a link, and it goes out from every team member's account, not only the two directors' own.

Questions people ask

Do UK trading disclosure rules apply to email, or only to printed letters?

The 2008 Regulations were written with paper correspondence in view, but government and professional guidance built on them treats electronic business communications, including email, as within scope - a company relying on 'it only says letters' is reading the rule more narrowly than the guidance built on it does.

Is it enough to put our company registration number on our website?

Guidance on the Regulations treats the requirement as needing the details in the communication itself, readable without following a link - a company number that only appears on a linked website page is generally not treated as sufficient on its own.

Does this apply to every employee, or just people who sign contracts?

Guidance describes the requirement as applying to business correspondence from the company generally, which in practice means every employee sending an external business email, not a narrower group defined by title or authority to sign contracts.

Put your own details on every signature you send

Signatoro puts your name, title and contact details on every signature, free for one person. From the Up to 15 plan, a company adds one compliance footnote to everyone's signature.

Create my companyBuild my own signature, free

Other pages in this series

CAN-SPAM and your email signatureGDPR and your email signaturePECR and marketing email signaturesHIPAA email disclaimer mythsFINRA email disclaimer mythsCompliance hub

Sources