Laos requires its own consular stamp
Start from the fact that decides everything else: a UK paper used in Laos needs a stamp from the Lao mission, not merely a certificate from a UK office. Consular legalization for Laos is therefore a chain of three signatures rather than one errand. Each link depends on the one before, which is why the order never varies and why an out-of-sequence attempt simply comes back.
The three steps, from Tyneside outwards
First a notary public or solicitor seals the document. Second, the FCDO Legalisation Office certifies that notary's seal for £45; it operates from PO Box 6255, Milton Keynes MK10 1XX and handles the work by post, so nobody travels anywhere. Third, the Lao embassy or consulate adds the stamp that Lao offices actually look for, and the file is then finished.
For a civil record there is an easier opening move. Newcastle Register Office (Civic Centre, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8QH) supplies fresh certified copies of birth, marriage and death entries. Ordering one costs little and means the certificate in your own drawer stays there while a replacement makes the trip instead.
What the Lao mission looks at
The mission checks the FCDO certificate beneath its own stamp, so a file that reaches it out of order gains nothing. Embassy attestation for Laos is granted on that layered bundle: notary seal, UK certificate, Lao stamp, in that order on the same paper. The mission also sets its own fee and its own hours, which makes this the least predictable link in the chain.
Cost and timing for this corridor
Embassy legalization for Laos from Newcastle upon Tyne carries one published fee and one that is not. The published one is the £45 the FCDO charges. The Lao consular fee sits on top and is decided by the mission. On timing, the standard route runs 7–10 business days and the express route 2–3 business days, in both cases excluding the days the paper spends in the post between the three parties.
Where this corridor usually goes wrong
People stop one stamp early. The FCDO certificate arrives looking conclusive, and it is easy to read it as the end of the job when Laos treats it as a prerequisite. The other frequent slip is an unsealed paper: without a notary or solicitor signature at the start, neither of the later offices has anything to certify, and the file returns untouched. To legalize documents for Laos, treat the notary appointment as step zero and book it before anything else.