UK Company Formation...

Everything you need to know about setting up in the UK.

UK Company Formation Wizard

Use our helpful tool to see what's required to set up your company in the UK.

Setting Up in The UK

A practical guide to what’s involved, and what you can expect to happen during this process.

FAQs

Get answers to commonly asked questions about company formation, accounting and taxes.

Our Services...

From accounting to personalised telephone answering – everything your company needs to thrive in the UK.

UK Company Formation

Company formation, memorandum and articles registration and appointing Directors and Shareholders.

Legal Compliance

Covering various business operations such as company secretary, registered office, handling post and more.

Outsourced Finance Office

Complete administrative support for your UK company designed especially for foreign businesses.

Bank Account Opening

Operate from day one with a virtual Bank account that can be opened immediately.

Virtual Office Service

UK business address, personalised phone answering service, mail handling, access to the meeting room.

Advisory Services

Advice on formation, directorship and other relevant rules and regulations related to setting up in the UK.

Brokerage Services

A single entry point to services frequently required in the early stages of company development.

About EBS...

Find out more about EBS, how we operate and what we stand for – or simply get in touch with us.

Who we are and how we work

We work exclusively with foreign-owned businesses in the UK and understand the problems they face.

Our Team

Behind every successful business is a great team - meet the team that makes up EBS.

Contact Details

Our address and contact details. If you need to get in touch with us, you can email us here.

Who we work with...

Explore our case studies and see how we work with foreign companies, helping them set up in the UK.

What's happening in the Industry

We’ve created and curated some helpful news articles relating to EBS and the industry in general.

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Helpful Guides and Documents

We’ve created some helpful guides and documents covering topics such as Britain’s History and Geography, The Legal System, Formalities and more. 

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Get in touch with us...

We’d love to hear from you! – if you have any questions, please get in touch with us on phone, email or social media, and our friendly team will be pleased to help.

Head Office

EBS Ltd, Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW

London Office

EBS Ltd, 118 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5EA

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Understanding Britain’s Payment Culture

One of the most overlooked aspects of growing sales in another country is getting paid on time. A lot of time and money is spent on market research and finding the best route to market, but very little consideration is given to the management of receivables and ensuring that the customers pay on time.

There is an assumption that the process will operate just as it does in the home market, but, as in many other things, the UK is slightly different.

In many countries it is not necessary to chase payment, as the customer will pay on time. Indeed, it can be considered rude to send reminders or to telephone customers chasing the payment of an invoice. In the UK it is absolutely essential, and the attitude is sometimes that if the supplier does not chase their money, they don’t need it, and so the customer can hold onto it. This is not a satisfactory situation for the supplier, particularly a small one from the foreign country, which is effectively using the mother company as a bank.

The resultant cash flow pressure has led to some suppliers selling their unpaid invoices to finance companies in a process known as factoring, so that the finance company will own the invoice and will chase the customer for payment. This weakens the negotiating power of the customer in relation to the supplier, as it is not the supplier who is demanding payment on time.

In order to counter this, larger customers have been including “no factoring” clauses in their agreements, meaning that the supplier is back in the hands of the customer trying to press for payment. In response to pressure from small business groups, the UK government has acted to make these “no factoring” clauses illegal, but how much practical effect this will have on payment times remains to be seen.

Whilst invoice factoring is not usually appropriate for foreign owned daughter companies, recently established in the UK, this situation does bring us back to the consideration of how to get paid on time.

UK customers will not just work with the invoices for example, they will require a monthly statement, and  reminders, usually by phone, to encourage payment. Whilst many aspects of sales administration can be successfully handled within the mother company, this cannot as it requires an in depth experience of how the system works, the excuses which customers will offer, and what you have to do to overcome these.

This is where EBS comes in. We have many years’ of experience with these matters and can provide practical and effective management solutions, ensuring that your customers pay on time and you have a good cash flow from your UK customers.

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Warwick Office

EBS Ltd, Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW

London Office

EBS Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ

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