Formation · 9 min read
The eleven steps of setting up and running a UK subsidiary from overseas, in the order the work happens — with the slow steps flagged so you can run them in parallel and be trading in a month rather than three.
A UK employee closing deals, or a place of business here, can already make the parent liable to UK corporation tax. If so, you are regularising a position rather than starting one, and the sequence changes. Read more: do you already have a UK tax presence →
A subsidiary is a new UK Ltd with its own liability; a branch is your existing company operating here, with the parent liable and usually its accounts on the UK register. Most groups choose a subsidiary. Read more: should you set up a UK subsidiary or register a branch →
Companies House verifies every director and person with significant control. For people overseas this is the step most likely to add a week — and it can be done before the company exists, so we start it first. Read more: do I need a UK resident director to form a UK company →
Name, registered office, registered email, directors, shareholder, PSC register and articles, with the year end set to match the group’s. Filed online; normally live within 24–48 hours of verification. Read more: uK company formation for overseas founders →
The longest step by a distance. Revolut Business, a fully licensed UK bank, onboards non-resident directors online and usually opens within days. If you also want a traditional bank, start that application the same day; it takes weeks. Subject to eligibility; approval is never guaranteed. Read more: opening a UK business bank account from abroad →
Four separate applications on four separate clocks. Corporation tax within three months of starting to trade; PAYE two to three weeks before the first payday; VAT when required or when voluntary registration helps; EORI if goods cross the border. Read more: uK VAT registration and returns for overseas businesses →
Whatever the parent charges the subsidiary — or the subsidiary does for the group — priced at arm’s length and documented before the first invoice. Undocumented charges are the first thing HMRC disallows. Read more: the UK taxes a subsidiary pays →
PAYE references in hand, a workplace pension scheme ready to enrol, contracts issued, and £5m of employers’ liability insurance in place from the first employee’s first day. Read more: hiring your first UK employee: PAYE, pensions and contracts →
Xero mapped to the parent’s chart of accounts, closed monthly, bank reconciled, intercompany balances agreed both sides so consolidation never throws up a difference. Read more: bookkeeping and year-end accounts for UK subsidiaries →
Accounts nine months after year end; CT600 twelve months after; confirmation statement annually; an audit if the worldwide group is not small. Every date diarised by us and confirmed to you in writing. Read more: the UK company calendar: every deadline on one page →
Dividends leave the UK with no withholding tax. Interest and royalties need the treaty rate claimed in advance. If the UK does not work out, a solvent company can be struck off in about three months. Read more: the UK taxes a subsidiary pays →
The first fortnight
Identity verification starts immediately. In parallel we check the name, agree the share structure and prepare the bank pack. The company is incorporated as soon as the directors are verified, and the Revolut application goes in the same day.
Weeks two to eight
HMRC registrations go in, in sequence — applications made before the company can evidence UK trade come back with questions. Payroll is set up ahead of the first hire. Xero is connected and mapped to your chart of accounts.
Every month after
Books current, bank reconciled, intercompany agreed, VAT quarterly, payroll every payday, and — on Embedded — the management pack on your close calendar, not ours.
Not much, and mostly at the start.
General information for overseas businesses considering the UK, correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown. Not advice for your specific circumstances — rates and thresholds change, usually each April. Check with us or HMRC before acting on it.
