forming a business from abroad

[Tamas]

Hi,
I am a Hungarian citizen living in the U.S.
I would like to establish an e-business in the UK. It would be a translation agency, operated from outside Europe.
I would appreciate if somebody could answer a couple of questions, or point me to a site where I could find answers to my questions.
If I want to run the business on my own, what would be the most advantageous form of ownership?
I know there are several formation agents, which would be a reliable one?
How can I establish a bank account in the UK that I could use for transactions?
Can I establish the bank account from abroad?

 

[VeryMark]

I work with a local translation agency here I can put you in touch with if that would help. I also know a local business bank manager who might be able to assist if you can email your contact details to me at [email protected].

 

[MikeH]

Hi Tamas,

I have tried to briefly answer a few of your points below. However, the subjects can be discussed at length and the information below is really just bullet points.

Type of business - There are only a few options for you really (LLP, LTD or sole trader). If you intend to open an account from overseas it is most likely that a Limited company will benefit you the most.

Running the business on your own - A UK Limited company requires at least two officers, a Director and a Company Secretary. An LLP requires at least two partners. A sole trader speaks for itself.

You will need a registered office in the UK for an LLP or LTD

Opening an account - Many UK banks have restricted account openings for customers based overseas. However, I am aware that some of the banks will still asist you, for example we work closely with Barclays.

Reliable Formation Agents - Whilst some may claim this statement is an oxymoron, there are many different levels of service that you can experience from different companies. There are several formation agents that post on this forum, who I understand to be reliable.

For information relating to forming a UK company from overseas please take a look at our website. This is not a sales pitch, there is quite a lot of information that you may find helpful. The following link should help

http://www.sfsgo.com/nonukclientinfo.asp

Please make sure that whichever type of entity you decide upon that it is right for your business. Find an agent that can assist you with all of your requirements and not leave you struggling once the company is formed.

Good luck with your plans.

Mike.

 

[gj]

I assume you want people dealing with you in the UK to see it as a UK based business, but that your business will not have any physical presence in the UK.

People may be put off by the fact that there is no UK office - people like to be see that there is somewhere they could go to sort out any issues they may have.

I would suggest that a limited company will give more of the appearance of a UK based company, albeit that the director might be in the US. Many people will not look beyond the UK address (the Registered Office which Mike mentions)

Opening a UK bank account would also help to give UK customers greater confidence - and you may need to have a processing function at the registered office for cheques sent there by customers - you will probably want most people to pay you by direct transfer into your bank account but you will probably have to accept some people paying you by cheque by post.

Opening a UK account from abroad does involve you providing proof of identity and address and good standing from your personal bank to the UK bank.

We currently operate such an arrangement with our offices as the registered office of a UK based company owned by a German. We receive all payments into the UK account and make transfers out to Germany and elsewhere on the companies behalf, and deal with all accounting and tax returns in the UK.

From a tax point of view, I guess you would then invoice the Uk company for your translation services, and other translators for theirs. Effectively, there would be no actual work caried out in the UK unless you happened to use UK based translators - but they would probably be self employed in their own right.

Therefore, from the business arising in the UK a deduction would be needed to cover the administration costs, but these could be fairly low - perhaps £2,000 per annum.

Hope that helps - let me know if you need any help on this.


Regards


Graham

 

[Anonymous]

See if you really need to open an UK Company. I agree that some customers would see this as a plus. However, see the big picture. IF someone hires you due to he believes you are in UK, maybe, he would want you to have an office. You may put in your documents, web and papers your registered office in UK, but I believe that you should be transparent with the customer, and if you are based in US, you should mention that in somewhere (that your UK presence is just legal). And, if you have to mention anyway that you are in US, why to bother in opening an UK company.

Are your customers going to pay online or via cheques? This would define whether you need an UK account or not.

Cheers
Fernando

 

[Ozzy]

I agree with what Fernando has said here. Trying to pretend you are a UK business to win UK business could give you a negative image in the long run.
It does depend on the product you sell, because if stuff is being shipped from the US and the customer is not aware of this the delays (and sometimes surprise customs notices/bills) could lead to a large number of complaints and investigation by trading standards.