Entering the UK market

Deciding to enter a new market – particularly one as complex, interconnected and important as the UK – isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly.  The rewards can be high.  The UK is the world’s fifth largest economy in terms of GDP, the most generous nation in Europe and the sixth most generous nation in the world.

Despite being considered fairly friendly to business and innovation, the process to “get going” can be long, tedious and quite difficult.  This is particularly true with regard to setting up banking resources.  It is fairly well known that setting up a bank account as a foreign individual can be next to impossible, as this poor British citizen with a Canadian driving license lamented.  When you add the additional complexity of being a new organisation (often a CIC, as we’d recommend) that is also a less common classification (CIC) that is wholely owned by a foreign entity, often with no full-time domestic staff or resources, the path gets even more difficult.

Add in registration of your organisation, registration of a website, set-up of business email and comms, finding legal services, accounting services, business systems, insurance and locating a work space and all-of-a-sudden that new European hub in London starts to look far less appealing.

Fortunately, there are specialty accounts available to such organisations through a variety of banks ranging from the traditional like HSBC to the community-centred like The Cooperative Bank.  What’s best for your organisation will depend on expected turnover, staff size and structure and broader short-term and long-term goals and objectives.

We’ve worked with organisations navigating this often-confusing path.  If you’re thinking about entering the UK market and rummaging through resources on the legal, financial and all-the-rest-of-it area, drop us a note and we’ll see if we might be able to assist.  The UK offers a great deal of potential to organisations of all sectors, interests and objectives.  Don’t let the paperwork scare you away!

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]