A winding-up petition must be served at the company's registered office, and the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 require personal delivery to a director, officer or an employee who is authorised to accept service — or, if nobody is there to accept it, service in the manner the rules allow for an unattended registered office.
Service is proved by a certificate of service, and the petition can only ordinarily be presented where a statutory demand served at least 21 days earlier has been ignored, or where judgment has already been entered against the company.