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.

Join our mailing list

Sign up to our mailing list to get news and updates straight to your inbox.

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. 

Join our mailing list

Sign up to our mailing list to get guidance articles straight to your inbox.

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

Setting Up in The UK

A Practical Guide

Where do you start?

Setting up a company can be confusing and can involve many steps. EBS can help you establish in the UK Market easily.

The following is a quick guide to what’s involved in establishing a UK company, and what you can expect to happen during this process.

EBS will check the Company Names Register for your preferred name, form the Limited Company of your choice, deal with the registration of the Memorandum and Articles and appoint the first Directors and Shareholders.

Ready to get started? Give us a call or send us an email.

In this section

Establishing a Company in the UK

Each UK limited company needs…

A Company Name

1 Shareholder

Shareholders can be a person or another company.

1 Director

Directors can be of any nationality and can live in any country.

Identify the Directors and any person ultimately controlling 25% or more.

A Company Can...

A Company Does NOT need to...

Registered Office & Company Secretary

Registered Office

Company Secretary

Opening a Bank Account in the UK

Opening a bank account in the UK has become increasingly difficult.

There is no single solution, but we have taken a holistic approach to remove as many barriers as we can.

Checklist

When setting up a bank account, consider the following:

EBS Client Bank Account

As EBS is liable for the ongoing monitoring of the company’s bank transactions, we can only provide this service if certain conditions are met and remain in place.

In summary, these are the criteria:

UK Taxes

Corporation Tax

0 %

Tax Rate

VAT

0 %

(unless exempt)

Shares

NO
TAX

on issue of new shares

Research and Development

Tax credit of 186% of the approved costs, which can be carried forward or sold (surrendered) for cash payment of 14.5% of the loss (only 10% can be claimed from 1st August 2023).

Qualifying R&D costs are costs relating to an R&D project as follows:-

1) Expenditure incurred during the year that are likely to qualify for R&D Tax Relief, including-

2) UK Employee and directors’ wages, UK employers NI, employers pension contributions. If an employee only part of their time on R&D then can claim the percentage of time each person spent on R&D.

3) Reimbursed travelling expenses relating to R&D work that are paid by an employee personally that are reimbursed by the company. Employee expenses paid directly by a company credit card or company bank payment cannot be claimed as they are not “reimbursed”.

First year Capital Allowances and Super Deduction

First Year Capital Allowances

Super Deduction

Country Comparison

Country Formation Time Share Capital Company Registration Company Tax Due month
United Kingdom
2 days
1 GBP
300 GBP
19-25%
Once per year
Germany
5 weeks
25000 EUR
1500 EUR
26 – 36%
4 times per year
Spain
1 month
3000 EUR
900 EUR
25%
3 times per year
Netherlands
1 week
0.01 EUR
1500 EUR
15%-25.8%
5 months

Dividend Withholding Tax

UK Germany Netherlands Spain Poland
Poland
NIL
5%
7%
5%
19%*
India
NIL
10%
10%
15%
10%
China
NIL
5-15%
5-15%
5%
10%
USA
NIL
5%
NIL
5%
5%

NOTE: Ownership restrictions apply in all cases where rate is 10% or less.
* Certain exemptions for payments under PLN 2 million a year can be applied for

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.

Warwick Office

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

London Office

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

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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