A professional .gov.uk email address does more than tidy up your inbox—it transforms how residents, suppliers and partner organisations see your Parish Council. When emails arrive from an official address that matches your domain, everyone instantly knows they're communicating with a trusted public authority. HugoFox makes setting up .gov.uk emails simple, affordable and fully supported.
Already have your .gov.uk email set up? Visit our help and info guide for setup instructions, FAQs and troubleshooting.
Why official .gov.uk emails matter
When your emails arrive from a .gov.uk address, recipients immediately recognise they're dealing with an official public authority. This credibility builds trust with residents and reinforces your council's commitment to transparency, security and professionalism.
A .gov.uk email address also helps your council meet essential data protection and security requirements. These mailboxes are governed by strict Government Digital Service (GDS) and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) standards, ensuring your communications meet the same security levels as other UK public bodies.
Having a .gov.uk email address lets parishioners know your council takes their information seriously—protecting not just community data, but community confidence too.
Simple, affordable and fully managed
Setting up a .gov.uk email system might sound complicated, but HugoFox makes it effortless. From registering your .gov.uk domain name to creating individual mailboxes for councillors and clerks, everything is handled by our UK-based support team - you won't need to touch any technical settings.
Best of all, HugoFox costs less than half the price of many commercial providers and around a quarter of Microsoft 365 Business. You get full compliance with GDS standards without stretching your budget.
Your professional .gov.uk identity travels with every message you send. And when a staff member moves on, the email address stays with the council - preserving continuity, protecting data integrity and ensuring residents always know how to reach you. We also include a free .gov.uk domain for Parish Councils, with renewals covered at no extra cost.
What's included in every HugoFox mailbox
Each mailbox comes with 15GB of storage - enough for roughly 750,000 plain-text emails. You can expand your capacity in 10GB blocks whenever needed, so your council never runs out of space.
All accounts are hosted by Spacemail in a Tier IV UK data centre offering ISO 27001-certified security, advanced spam filtering and daily automated backups. Everything is designed to keep your communications protected and your data safe from loss or misuse.
Every councillor and clerk also receives unlimited support from our UK-based team in plain English, without any unnecessary technical jargon.
Unlimited aliases explained
Every HugoFox mailbox includes unlimited email aliases at no extra cost. An alias is simply an alternative email address that delivers messages straight to your main inbox - think of it as multiple front doors to the same house.
For example, a clerk with the mailbox clerk@yourcouncil.gov.uk could also receive emails sent to planning@yourcouncil.gov.uk, bookings@yourcouncil.gov.uk and enquiries@yourcouncil.gov.uk. All of these arrive in the same inbox without needing separate accounts to check.
When you want to send an email from an alias, simply select the address you'd like to use from a dropdown menu before composing your message. This makes it easy to respond from the appropriate address—reply to a planning query from the planning address, or a hall booking from the bookings address.
To request aliases, just contact our support team with the addresses you need. Setup takes no time at all, and once configured, you can start using them immediately. The key benefit is continuity: when staff change, you simply reassign the alias to the new person rather than changing the public-facing address that residents already know.
Catch-all addresses for your domain
You can also set up a catch-all address for your domain. A catch-all captures any email sent to your council's domain, even if the specific address doesn't exist. If someone accidentally emails "typo@yourcouncil.gov.uk" instead of "clerk@yourcouncil.gov.uk", the message still arrives rather than bouncing back.
You choose which mailbox receives catch-all emails. This is particularly useful for councils wanting to ensure no correspondence is ever missed due to simple typing errors. Contact our team if you'd like to enable this feature.
Security and compliance features
Every HugoFox mailbox is configured with SPF, DKIM and DMARC records—three key technologies that prevent email spoofing and ensure your messages arrive safely in inboxes rather than spam folders. These protections are set up automatically when we configure your domain.
You'll also find an Activity Log under the Security Centre, allowing you to track logins and password changes for complete transparency. Two-factor authentication is available on every account, providing your council with the highest level of protection currently available under GDS standards.
Important: GDS guidelines require that .gov.uk mailboxes are used only for official council business. This means no personal subscriptions, online shopping or newsletters. Maintaining clean usage helps preserve your council's professional image and ensures ongoing compliance.
Choosing your mailbox plan
All mailbox bundles are billed monthly and can be cancelled at any time. Prices exclude VAT:
- 1 mailbox – £2.49 + VAT
- 5 mailboxes – £9.99 + VAT
- 10 mailboxes – £17.49 + VAT
- 15 mailboxes – £24.99 + VAT
- 20 mailboxes – £32.49 + VAT
- 25 mailboxes – £39.99 + VAT
Additional 10GB storage blocks are available for £1.49 per mailbox per month. Once you've confirmed your order, all invoices appear automatically in your Payments section for transparency, auditing and VAT reporting.
How to obtain your .gov.uk email addresses
To get .gov.uk emails, you first need a .gov.uk domain. For more information on obtaining your domain, click here. Once you submit your request, our team handles everything—the application, all GDS checks and the DNS configuration. You won't need to lift a finger.
As soon as your domain goes live, you'll receive an email from our team and see an option to set up your .gov.uk email on the payments page in your "My Account" area. Simply confirm your direct debit and follow the on-screen wizard to choose your mailboxes.
The first email address must be clerk@yourcouncil.gov.uk. After that, you can add as many addresses as you need for councillors, staff and committee members.
Moving to a .gov.uk email system is about more than security—it's about delivering a service residents can trust. When your messages carry the weight of an official address, every communication becomes clearer, more credible and more professional. Now is the perfect time to get started.
Conclusion
With HugoFox, the transition to .gov.uk email is simple—we take care of every technical detail, provide full support around the clock, and offer an affordable, scalable system that grows with your needs.
Need a hand? Our support team is here 24/7:
- Email us at team@hugofox.com
- Use the contact page
- Silver or Gold customer? Call us on 01635 888 442