The United Kingdom is one of the best places to expand your business internationally. At first, sight, starting a business in the UK can be challenging but with the right steps, you can make your business successful there. The environment is lucrative as people from all over the world travel and lives in the UK and the market potential in the UK is very strong which makes the UK a very lucrative place to expand their business there.
When looking to expand your business in the UK you need to think about the legal and registration requirements, such as how to register a company UK, along with bureaucratic red tape, and regulations that you will need to follow as well as hiring employees.
How to hire employees in the UK?
One of the major barriers when expanding to other countries is the language, but in the UK everybody speaks English albeit the accent is different but they speak English so hiring employees right from the get-go becomes much easier.
How can a UK PEO or employer of record help your business expand in the UK?
An employer of record is a PEO that will handle your employee payroll, recruitment facilities, and other facilities that are mandatory for your Employees. They take tension in hiring the right staff from your back so you can focus on business policies.
Legal structures in the UK
Legal Structure is similar to the business ownership structure. When you are looking to expand your business in the UK you need to specify your company structure. This mainly depends on the type of business you run and some of the most common company structures in the UK are Branch Office, Sole Trader, Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership, and Partnership.
What is a limited company?
A limited company is one of the most common forms of business in the UK. An LTD company is its separate legal entity which is owned by the shareholders and managed by directors. The profit made from an LTD company will be liable to UK tax.
Most international businesses prefer the LTD Company when expanding their business in the UK because it is a cheaper and much effective method.
Opening a Branch
A branch company is an exact representation of the overseas parent company. The UK legal structure will not identify the branch as a separate legal entity. The business operations including transactions and liabilities by the branch company will be counted for the parent company, not individually.
How long does it take to set up and register a business in the UK?
You need to register your company in the Company house and it takes only two days for your company to be registered. A company that has started to trade needs to sign up for corporation tax under HMRC within 90 days of their first trade. The paperwork for this signing up process is not extensive but there are certain specific documents required. Additionally, be aware of the MTD for corporation tax initiative, as it may impact how you manage your tax records and submissions efficiently.
Setting up a Bank Account
When setting up a business in the UK, you need a bank account for it. The process of setting up a bank account is time-consuming because you need to clarify the money you are going to put in the account is legally earned. Plus, they go through a money laundering process before giving you a corporate account to check if your business is authentic and credible. This whole process may take around half a year so be patient.
To speed up the process you can go to a bank in your companys home country and ask if they have any branch or operations there. This might speed up the process as the bank in your homeland already recognizes your company.
How much Tax do you need to pay in the UK?
The UK tax regime is very competitive and business-friendly. There is no unfair taxation in the UK like in other countries. The amount of Tax each business needs to pay depends on their legal structure. The standard VAT rate in the UK is 20% so if your company qualifies for VAT you will have to pay this amount based on your turnover.
