A named person, not a ticket queue
You get one accountant’s name, email and calendar link. They know your business and your home country’s quirks.
About
A London finance team, built for companies that aren’t here yet
UK Establishment is part of City Solution, a London bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and advisory firm. We noticed the same thing again and again: founders abroad were getting a UK company from a formation agent, then finding themselves alone with HMRC.
So we built one door. Formation, address, bank, VAT, payroll, and the books — with the same team from day one, in your time zone.
2014City Solution incorporated in London — Companies House no. 09145699. AAT-licensed, Companies House authorised agent (ACSP AP007847), HMRC-supervised for AML.
One teamThe people who form your company are the ones who file your accounts three years later.
7am–7pmUK hours that overlap with Mumbai mornings, Dubai afternoons, and New York mornings.
How we work
Three promises
Plain English, every time
If we can’t explain a UK rule in one paragraph, we haven’t understood it well enough. We’ll try again.
Fixed fees, set in advance
You’ll never receive an invoice you didn’t expect. If scope grows, we agree the fee first.
The people who do the work
One named accountant, from day one
The person who forms your company is the person who files its accounts. Here is who you will be dealing with.
Peter Allen
Director — holds the practising licence
Sets the quality bar on everything that leaves the building and takes the first call with every new client.
Book a 30-minute call with PeterPeter’s profile and credentials
Jolandi de Jager
Client accountant
Runs the day-to-day for a portfolio of overseas-owned UK companies: bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and the deadline calendar.
Shanaine Rajcoomher
Onboarding and compliance
Identity checks, Companies House filings, registered office and Revolut Business set-up — the first four weeks.
Licence, insurance and what we are not allowed to do
Our professional licence, AML supervision, PI cover, complaints route and the regulated work we refer out — all on one page.
What clients say
Reviews of our parent practice, City Solution
UK Establishment is the overseas-founder brand of City Solution (UK) Ltd. These are the reviews clients have left for the practice on Google — the same team, the same office in Shoreditch.
“Can’t recommend highly enough Pete and the team at City Solution. They have been an invaluable help to my company and meant I can concentrate on gaining new business, safe in the knowledge the important financials are being taken care of.”
“City Solution is a fantastic company, they are committed to their clients and work tirelessly to fulfil all our needs. They work for the client making sure that their money is working for them.”
Two reviews, both five stars, on the City Solution (UK) Ltd Google profile. We would rather show you two real ones than a wall of anonymous praise — and if you would like to speak to a current client before you engage us, ask and we will arrange it.
Who we work with — and who we don’t
We check everyone. Serious businesses pass in a day.
As a supervised UK accountancy firm we are legally required to know our clients. We take that seriously: it protects you, it protects the UK register, and it means the companies we set up are ones banks and customers can trust.
Before we start, we verify
- Identity verification for every director and anyone owning or controlling 25% or more — passport plus a live selfie check, before Companies House sees anything
- Proof of address for each of those people
- An ownership chart to the ultimate beneficial owners, with the parent’s registration documents to back it
- A plain description of what the UK company will do, who its customers are and where the money comes from
- Sanctions and politically-exposed-person screening on every individual and entity in the chart
- Ongoing monitoring for as long as we act — not just at onboarding
We decline
- Anyone who will not complete identity checks, or whose documents do not add up
- Structures designed to hide who really owns or controls the company
- Individuals or entities subject to UK, EU, UN or US sanctions, or resident in high-risk jurisdictions we are not able to serve
- Businesses that cannot explain in plain terms what they do or where their funds come from
- Unlicensed activity that needs a UK licence (payments, crypto, gambling, lending, immigration advice)
- Anyone who wants us to be the “face” of a company they will run in the shadows — we do not provide nominee directors or shareholders
We are required by law to report suspicious activity to the UK authorities and are prohibited from telling the client we have done so. If your business is legitimate — and almost every enquiry we receive is — none of this will slow you down: the checks run in parallel with incorporation and are usually complete within a working day. See our regulatory information.
What we need from you
Not much, and mostly at the start
After the first fortnight it is the monthly records and a reply when we ask a question.
- The parent company’s registration documents and a simple structure chart
- Passports and proof of address for the directors and anyone owning 25% or more
- Your group’s financial year end, so we match it
- A one-paragraph description of what the UK company will do
- A named person in your finance team who can approve things
- Questions between jobs are free — anything that becomes real work is quoted first
Part of City Solution
Bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and advisory for UK startups and SMEs.