@Alasdair.
If a business is on some directories/ lead generation sites, their address is witheld from being made public (particularly in the latter case, I presume to stop customers ringing people direct and cutting out the lead generators profit/commission). How do they get around that? Is a business like that or eBay excluded because they have the business’ full contact details?
One interpretation of the law I have seen, the regulations do state that a registered office would suffice (compulsory if it is a company). Is there a simple way sole traders could have a registered office without becoming a company? (this does not apply to me as I am Limited and know what I have to do). I looked at the following document http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file14635.pdf and quote: point 5.2 (b) on page 17:”The geographic addressat which the service provider is established. This is not necessarily his principal or registered office, nor the usual address which he cited for the purposes of sending communications. Rather, it is an address that derives from the definition of “established service provider” and so indicates the Member States whose laws will, in general, applyto the provision of the service in question”. As long as they comply with 5.2 (c): “the details of the service provider, including his email address, which makes it possible to contact him rapidly and communiacte with him in a direct and effective manner” then surely this would be a get out-clause for those operating a business from home, provided he can provide an address within the UK at which he is easily contactable. (Used to be like driving licenses in the past “contactable address”?). Bare in mind I am no lawyer, but as a commoner that is how I would interpret it.
Reading 5.4, which addresses “rapidly”, “the enforcement authorities are expected to treat this as a question of common sense” with “the onus being on the service provider to demonstrate that he has complied with this requirement”.
As a lawyer would you not be able to argue that provided a service provider has given those details upon direct communication with the consumer (along with terms and conditions and everything else required by Distance Selling Regulations), that a business operating from home has complied, particularly when you look at 5.3, regarding texts (particularly as limited to 160 characters)… though they mention refering back to a source such as a website.
Surely a some sort of disclaimer along the lines of providing full address on placement of order/commencement of communication and re-iterating the right to a cooling off period of 7 days (Direct Selling Regulations) could be argued to be sufficient in these cases of home businesses.

Alternatively, keep safe. Sell via directories and eBay and dont have a website/Social Media presence etc.

Sorry to be so long winded but have spent a lot of time researching this as it interests me a lot, given the poor policing of the net. Big companies that hid info really annoy me!

“information society services” (which is summarised in recital 17 of the Directive as covering “any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by means of electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, and at the individual request of a recipient of a service”) has the meaning set out in Article 2(a) of the Directive, (which refers to Article 1(2) of Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations(3), as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of 20 July 1998(4));”

Tbh I’m not sure whether solciting donations would mean that the service was provided “for remuneration” within the meaning of the Regs: my guess is probably not. It could depend upon the manner in which the donations are solicited.

If there is a legal requirement under the Ecommerce Regs, it is generally thought that a PO Box would not suffice, as they require a “geographic address”.

I have one more question which maybe you can answer which will no doubt interest others in a similar situation…

Myself and a group of others have setup a website and “scheme” for cyclists to provide free facilities from third party businesses free of charge. It’s not a for profit business and doesn’t sell anything. It’s intended to be more of a charity format, relying on donations from the industry (but not a registered charity at this stage).

Members are invited to register free at the website. Beyond their full name and personal profile, they don’t provide their address, telephone number or any financial details etc. Obviously the Data Protection Act would still apply, but I’m more concerned about the Ecommerce regulations you mentioned, specifically the need for displaying the Webmasters/main admin’s home address on the website.

Would that still be a legal requirement do you think on a website like this?

If there is a legal requirement, would it be possible to use a PO Box address instead?

Under The Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008), there is a basic legibility requirement for website and business communication disclosures: “Any display or disclosure of information required by these Regulations must be in characters that can be read with the naked eye”. There is a requirement of prominence in relation to registered office notices, but this does not apply to website and business communication disclosures. See the Regs for full details:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/495/contents/made

The position is not so clear-cut under the Ecommerce Regulations. Disclosures have to be “in a form and manner which is easily, directly and permanently accessible”. The question, then, is whether company information buried in website T&Cs is easily accessible. The answer to this question may vary from case to case. I would be very surprised if the question ever gets put before a court of law: it’s wouldn’t be of interest to regulators, and even if it gives rise to private rights of action (I don’t know off the top of my head if it does), it’s hard to image a breach of those rights that would give rise to a significant loss that wouldn’t be independently recoverable.

This page states that businesses have a legal obligation to publish their trading name and address on their website under Companies Act 2006 and Business Names Act 1985, but does the law specifically state how prominently these need to be displayed?

I’ve seen some sites (big manufacturers and retailers) where they bury them in tiny print among the terms and conditions page and its only by chance you might look there and find them. There’s nothing under the usual “Contact” link page. Is this still legal?