Business Center Saarn

A virtual office address in a listed house of 1750

Business Center Saarn lets companies take a virtual office address in the Ruhr area, in the city of Mülheim, which lies between Essen and Düsseldorf. The address is a listed building of 1750 in the Saarn district, whose old centre locals call the village. The operator presents this as something unusual among virtual office providers: a carefully restored period building in a well-regarded district, instead of an office block from the 1970s or a plain glass tower.

What a virtual office is for

A virtual office here is purely a business address, usable without occupying any room. The operator argues that in an age of online maps a company's location is easy to look up, so a representative address matters for a credible presence. It names four groups it expects to rent from it:

• Companies that need a branch in Mülheim or the Ruhr region so as to show a local presence.
• Self-employed people who work from home but do not want their private address on the web, for instance because of the legal duty to publish an imprint.
• Business owners who travel a lot and have no office but need a fixed postal address.
• Founders who do not wish to invest in premises at first but still want an address with some standing.

What comes with the address

Besides the plain address, the operator allows clients to register their trade at the house, so a Gewerbeanmeldung can be made there. Post is forwarded, and the contract has a notice period of only one month to the end of a month. One or more telephone numbers can be added as options, each including a flat rate for calls to German landlines and all mobile networks within Germany.

How to rent one

The process is done by post. Clients download the contract, fill it in and sign it, then send it with a copy of their trade registration and a copy of both sides of their identity card. Freelancers need only the identity card. They then receive the countersigned contract and the first month's invoice by mail.

The operator also explains its location, noting that Mülheim lies next to Essen, Oberhausen, Duisburg, Ratingen and Düsseldorf, with Bochum, Dortmund, Wuppertal and Cologne close by.

Business Center Saarn provides virtual office addresses in Mülheim an der Ruhr, between Essen and Düsseldorf in Germany. The address sits in a protected historic house dating from 1750 in the Saarn district, which the operator presents as a distinctive alternative to plain modern office blocks.

Products and services

• Business address: an address a company can use for its trade, with the option of registering the business there.
• Mail forwarding: post sent on to the client.
• Simple contracting: a contract handled by post with a copy of the trade registration and identity papers.
• Short notice period: the contract can be ended at month end, with a one-month notice period.

Customers and markets

Companies wanting a local presence in the Ruhr area, freelancers who prefer not to publish a home address, travelling entrepreneurs, and founders who do not yet want to invest in offices. The offer is aimed at traders and freelancers only.

Key facts

• Based in: Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
• Building: a protected house of 1750 in the Saarn district