Category Archives: Your Office In London

How would you like your mail handled?

Leave a reply

Your mail, how you want it

Our Mail Forwarding services don’t just include mail forwarding. Oh no. We can handle your mail a number of ways depending on what package you have with us.

Here’s a breakdown of what we can do and what packages we can do it on:

Mailed

Let’s start with the most obvious. We receive your mail and forward it on to a destination of your choosing. Available with our Mail Box Basic, Mail Box Plus and Mail Box Pro packages.

Scanned

We receive your mail, open it and then email you a scan. After two weeks we securely destroy the mail. If you would like to receive the item, we can forward it at a cost of £2.50. Available with our Just Scan, Mail Box Plus and Mail Box Pro packages.

Scanned and Mailed/Filed for Collection

We receive your mail, open it and then email you a scan. We can then either mail it to you or you can collect it from us. Available with our Mail Box Plus and Mail Box Pro packages.

Collected

We receive your mail and then notify you that there is mail available to collect from us. You come and collect the mail. Available with our Mail Box Plus and Mail Box Pro packages.

For more information about each package (including pricing) please see here:

London Mail Forwarding services

If I took a holiday… who would answer my company’s phone?

Leave a reply

Time for a break?

Are you thinking of taking a well-earned break but concerned about who’s going to take care of your business’s phone calls whilst you’re away?

We can help with our Holiday Cover Phone Services.

Whilst you’re relaxing in the sun (fingers crossed) we can answer your calls and then forward the messages to you via email or SMS.

We provide 2 Holiday Cover services:

Holiday Cover Basic – £15 per week

• We take your calls and answer with “reception”
• Messages are taken and forwarded to you via email or SMS
• Unlimited calls & messages from 9am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday
• Service available from 1 to 4 weeks

Holiday Cover Plus – £25 per week

• We take your calls and answer in your company’s name
• Messages are taken and forwarded to you via email or SMS
• Unlimited calls & messages from 9am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday
• Service available from 1 to 4 weeks

See here for more information about our Holiday Cover.

Proof of ID & address required if signing up for mail forwarding: It’s the law

Leave a reply

It is required by law that we hold proof of ID and proof of address for all customers who use our London mail forwarding service. This is to ensure that we comply with legislation set out by the City of Westminster:

“The City of Westminster introduced legal controls under the London Local Authorities Act 2007 which requires a virtual office to register with the Council, keep records of all clients who use their services and a copy of their identification and proof of address” Continue reading →

Phone Answer, Patch & Divert: What’s the difference?

Leave a reply

our telephone servicesOur 4 phone services are based around 3 methods of taking your calls; answer, patch and divert. So what’s the difference?

Answer

• You receive a unique telephone number
• Calls are answered by our team in your company name
• We take a message and then send the message to you via email or SMS

Patch

• You receive a unique telephone number
• Calls are answered by our team in your company name
• We then direct the call through to you
• If you can not take the call we take a message and then send the message to you via email or SMS

Divert

• You receive a unique telephone number
• Calls are diverted straight to you

For more information about our different phone services take a look here:

London Presence Phone Services

If you have any questions leave a comment below and we’ll be in touch.

Do I have to live in the UK to use a Mail Forwarding service?

2 Replies

In a word, no.

Our London based mail forwarding service is open to residents of the majority of countries in the world. If Royal Mail can send mail to you, you can use our service. And having spoken to a Royal Mail representative today we now know that they can currently send mail anywhere other than Iraq and Syria.

To check Royal Mail’s current rates for sending mail abroad see here:

Royal Mail Price Finder

If you have any questions simply leave a comment and we’ll be in touch.

Lifetime Of A Piece Of London Presence Mail

Leave a reply

If you’re thinking about using our London Mail Forwarding service, or already using it, you may be interested to see how your mail is handled. So, for the curious, below is the journey your mail takes.

1. Mail is sent for your attention to our office

2. We receive it

3. Our team process the mail

4. And then, depending on your specified choice, we:

a) Post it to you

b) Scan the item and then email it to you

c) Let you know that mail is available to be collected from our office

Any questions? Let us know below.

Clerkenwell. Where we’re at.

Leave a reply

ClerkenwellHere’s some background about where we’re based (and where your mail is handled if you use our mail forwarding service).

Clerkenwell is in the London Borough of Islington. The name originates from “Clerks’ Well” an actual well dating back to the middle ages that still remains visible from the Well Court building on Farringdon Lane. We’re based on St John Street, the pictured St John’s Gate is located just a minute’s walk from our office.

Other “historical” landmarks include:

• Smithfield’s Market
• The execution site of William Wallace (Braveheart)
• The Crown Tavern – the pub where Lenin and Stalin apparently first met
• The Eagle – London’s first gastropub (Clerkenwell is now a foodie’s dream with restaurants including St John, Club Gascon and Moro all being in the area)

Cineastes may recognise Clerkenwell from a number of films. Skyfall, Eastern Promises, About a Boy, The Dark Knight Rises and 28 Weeks Later all had scenes shot around here.

Clerkenwell is now considered the hub of the UK’s design industry and hosts the aptly titled Clerkenwell Design Week, “the UK’s leading independent design festival”. The design boom (previously Clerkenwell was associated with the printing industry) has resulted in a real buzz. Rarely are the multiple bars and restaurants empty, it’s only at the weekend that things slow down and even then there’s Fabric nightclub.

Clerkenwell’s location is a huge selling point. Nestled snugly between the financial square mile, trendy Shoreditch and Central London, it’s at the heart of London’s business activity. This, and the fact that it’s such a hub for creativity, makes Clerkenwell the ideal place to base any business from.

Our 6 Tips for Working from Home

Leave a reply

your businessJust because Yahoo are putting an end to staff working from home doesn’t mean that the concept’s days are numbered. Recent research by Direct Line for Business found that up to eight million people in the UK are now running a business from home. So, for the benefit of those 8 million, here are our top tips for working from home.

• Put some clothes on

It’s important to build a routine. Wake up, have a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, do some work. Lofing about in your pj’s equals one thing. Daytime TV.

• Pick a good spot

Where you carry out your work is integral. It doesn’t need to be a big area or even a clean area but it does need to be an area where you’re not going to be distracted. And shut the door. This tells people “I’m working, leave me to it”.

• Take a breather

Just because you’re cutting out the commute doesn’t mean that you have to cut out fresh air. A brief wander outside can do wonders.

• Failing to plan is planning to fail

Or if you prefer, there’s the 7 military P’s. Every day set out a plan outlining what you want to achieve. Include some smaller, basic tasks for when procrastination rears its ugly head. Doing something is better than nothing.

• Make yourself available

Unanswered Skype chats (and calls) will make people think you’re skiving. Respond as quickly as you can.

• And stop

The two temptations of working from home are “never start” and “never stop”. For the latter, don’t forget your non-work life. Work specific hours and stop when your day is done. Easier typed than done.

What are your working from home tips? Let us know below.

The latest news bites

Leave a reply

Good afternoon and welcome back. It never rains but it pours:

1. “Recession will hit UK hardest” – says the Guardian.co.uk -, economists predict slowdown will be sharper in Britain than in any other major European countries and Britain will suffer a deeper recession than any other mature EU economy. Consequence? The European Commission’s latest half-yearly forecast predicts UK unemployment will rise from 5.3% in 2007 to 7.1% in 2009 — which would bring the number out of work to about 2.25 million.”

2. “HBOS deal to save Lloyds £1.5bn,” writes BBCNews.com. “Lloyds has said that its acquisition of HBOS would save it at least £1.5bn a year, raising fears of heavy job losses from the merger. Both banks have also unveiled further write-downs on assets ravaged by the credit crunch, with HBOS hardest hit. The banks also detailed plans to raise up to £17bn as part of the government’s bank bail-out plan. Unions said that the banks should think about the human cost of the takeover and avoid compulsory redundancies.”

3. “Ryanair profits fall sharply,” reveals today’s Financial Times. “[Its] profits fell heavily in the first six months under pressure from the doubling of fuel costs, and the group forecast that it would be in loss during the second half of the year… The group, Europe’s largest low cost carrier, had only “limited visibility” of forward bookings, but from October to March would fall by between 15 and 20 per cent leading to losses in the third and fourth quarters.”

4. WorldNews explains, “Gordon Brown hinted at another emergency global interest cut yesterday amid warnings that UK unemployment is set to soar to almost 3million. The Prime Minister promised ‘co-ordinated action’ across the world as pressure grew on the Bank of England to slash the cost of borrowing by as much as 1 per cent this week.” We shall see.

Is the economic storm passing?

Leave a reply

The sun appears to be breaking through after the storm that hit the financial market last week. The London Stock Exchange has continued to increase its value after the G8 Meeting of Sunday. France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Japan and Qatar all took measures to guarantee deposits and improve bank liquidity, showing an encouraging recovery for markets across the world.

The governments committed trillions of dollars to stop the collapse of the financial system, a measure that appears to have been successful so far. The decision of the American Treasury will provide a wide variety of banks with $250bn (£143bn). However, whilst a renewed confidence this week underlines how the collapse of the markets last week was the result of a common fear, we’re far from clear of danger.

Here some news about the Markets from:

From this market volatility we must learn how the collaboration and the union can help business – every business, including your own.