It is the question we are asked more than any other by Liverpool businesses, usually by somebody who has just been told the answer is no. In almost every case it is yes. Your 0151 number can move with you to a new provider, a new building, or out of the city entirely. Here is how it works, and the two situations where it genuinely gets difficult.
The short version
- Yes, in almost every case. Numbers are ported, not replaced.
- Moving premises does not have to cost you the number, even across the city.
- You can keep an 0151 number after leaving Liverpool, and get one without being here.
- Never let the old line be cancelled first. That is the mistake that loses numbers.
- Two awkward cases: a line in somebody else's name, and a number already ceased.
On this page
How keeping the number actually works
The thing that makes your number vulnerable is where it lives. On traditional analogue or ISDN lines, the number is attached to a physical line into a specific building. Move the building, and you have a problem.
On a hosted system the number lives in software. It is routed to wherever you tell it to go: a desk phone, an app on a laptop, a mobile, a group of people, or different places at different times of day. The building stops being part of the equation.
Moving from the first to the second is called porting. Your existing number is transferred to the new provider rather than replaced with a new one. You keep the number on your vans, your signage, your Google listing and two decades of customer records.
Moving premises
Moving within Liverpool, or anywhere else, does not have to cost you the number. If you are already on a hosted system it is close to trivial, because nothing is tied to the old address in the first place.
If you are still on analogue or ISDN, the move is the moment to port. Two points of order matter:
- Start before you sign, not after you move. Porting runs to a set process and cannot be rushed at the end.
- Do not let the old lines be ceased as part of vacating the building. This is the single most common way numbers are lost during a move.
While you are at it, check what the new building can actually get for connectivity. That, rather than the phone system, is usually what delays a move. Our guide to checking the broadband before you sign the lease explains why.
Leaving Liverpool, or arriving
Two questions that come up constantly, with the same underlying answer.
"We are moving out of the city. Do we lose the 0151?" No. Once the number is hosted it is not geographically tied to anything. Plenty of businesses that started in Liverpool and moved to the wider region keep their 0151 precisely because customers know it.
"We are not in Liverpool but we want an 0151 number." You can have one. Businesses serving Merseyside from elsewhere often take an 0151 number so local customers recognise them, and route it to wherever the team actually sits.
If you are weighing a local number against an 0333 or 0800, our post on which business phone number is right for you covers the trade-offs. In short: local numbers win on trust for local trade, non-geographic numbers win on reach.
When it gets difficult
Two situations genuinely cause problems, and both are worth checking before you start.
| Situation | Why it is a problem | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The line is not in your name | Often a landlord, a managing agent or a previous occupier. A port needs the account holder's authority. | Find out whose name it is in early and get written agreement. In serviced offices, ask before you sign. |
| The number has been ceased | A ceased number goes back into the pool. Recovery is difficult and sometimes impossible. | Act fast if it has just happened. Prevention is the real answer: never cancel before porting. |
| An outstanding balance | Providers can refuse a port while an account is in dispute or arrears. | Settle or resolve it first, even if you are arguing about it. |
| Details do not match | Ports fail on mismatched business names, addresses or account numbers. | Give the exact details as they appear on the bill, not the trading name you normally use. |
The mistake that loses numbers
If you remember one thing, make it this: never cancel the old service before the port is agreed.
It feels like the tidy thing to do. You are leaving, so you give notice. But cancelling triggers cessation, and once a number is ceased it goes back into the pool and may be gone for good. The correct order is always:
- Agree the new service and confirm the number is portable.
- Submit the port with the exact account details.
- Complete the port and confirm calls are arriving.
- Only then cease the old lines.
Any provider worth using will insist on that order. If one tells you to cancel your existing service first, that is a reason to pause.
Not sure if your number is safe?
Tell us the number and we will check whether it is portable and whose name the line is actually in, before you commit to anything. It takes us a short call and it is the one thing worth knowing before you move or switch.