Number Types

Local numbers begin with either 01 or 02 and are ideal for those wanting a local presence in any town or city for targeted marketing campaigns. Being ‘national’ with a non-geographical number can sometimes be the best choice if you are trading across the UK with a single gateway number, but having several local numbers for towns in your area may be better if you only supply locally. Everyone wants a local plumber, hotel or cleaning service!
With local telephone numbers you can trade wherever you want to without actually being based in that area. Large companies use local numbers to forward calls directly to the correct team and simply see it as good customer service.
It’s also possible to send and receive text messages to customers or team members with local numbers and Replies can be sent directly to an email address or mobile phone so you can respond quickly.

0800 is a non-geographic telephone number for those wanting a FREEPHONE national presence.
You should use these numbers for promotional activities where you believe more telephone enquiries will be generated by making their enquiry call free. We therefore suggest you remind customers of this by using words such as “To find out more, call us for FREE on 0800 xxx xxx” or “Call us on Freephone 0800 xxx xxx”. Please note that calls are only free for customers if they are calling from a UK landline.

0845 is a widely-used non-geographic telephone number for those wanting a credible national presence and callers are only charged at a local rate when calling you from a UK landline.

The essential difference between 0844 & 0845 is that 0844 numbers have NO call forwarding costs for you to UK landlines.
These numbers are widely used in the UK and your callers are only charged 4p per min when calling you (less than BT). GB Offices receives a percentage of this call cost, so is able to heavily discount the price of 0844 numbers to you.