Importing food from the EU (as a dual citizen)

[eplus]

Hello!

I am trying to set up a company in my country of origin (Bulgaria) then have the produce exported to the UK. I am a citizen of both countries.
I am completely new to entrepreneurship and as such I am struggling to wrap my head around where to begin.
Obviously the journey is going to be quite complicated. What I am asking is: do I need to set up two separate companies in both Bulgaria, and the UK, or just one company in the country where I will be considered a tax resident? How would exchanging goods between these two companies (both owned by me) work? What about duty and income taxes? I know for a fact that Bulgaria has signed a bilateral agreement with the UK regarding the double taxation issue. However, I am still not sure how duty fees would work.
Any feedback is welcome. Thank you in advance.

 

[WaveJumper]

Welcome to the UKBF wow where to begin ill let others comment on the type of company structure / structures you may need to adopt but on the face of it depending on what type of produce you intend to import you might want to seek out other suppliers in this field who already have systems in place to do this until you are established enough to undertake this yourself.

Just on the topic of importing food or drink into UK could give you a major headache have a look here at the UK GOV site as a start:

Import food and drink from the EU to Great Britain

How to import or move food and drink from the EU to Great Britain.

www.gov.uk

 

[eplus]

Welcome to the UKBF wow where to begin ill let others comment on the type of company structure / structures you may need to adopt but on the face of it depending on what type of produce you intend to import you might want to seek out other suppliers in this field who already have systems in place to do this until you are established enough to undertake this yourself.

Hello, thanks for the response. I am not producing the goods myself, in fact, I am only trying to create a brand and use another company's production chain and facilities. Basically, what I am aiming to do is buy their products and use my own brand and labels to break through on the British market. Basically like a distributor but under my own label.
Said company has already established itself on the EU market but has no interest in selling on the British one (I guess it's due to research costs, regulations, duties, etc)

Just on the topic of importing food or drink into UK could give you a major headache have a look here at the UK GOV site as a start:

I have considered that indeed, but at this point I still think it is too early to delve deeper into it; while I have to plan everything ahead, firstly I still need to figure out whether or not I can just set up two companies and have them trade with each other in order to then try to resell the imported goods to British retailers.

 

[Customs Geek]

Hello, thanks for the response. I am not producing the goods myself, in fact, I am only trying to create a brand and use another company's production chain and facilities. Basically, what I am aiming to do is buy their products and use my own brand and labels to break through on the British market. Basically like a distributor but under my own label.
Said company has already established itself on the EU market but has no interest in selling on the British one (I guess it's due to research costs, regulations, duties, etc)

I would be cautious if a bigger company isn’t interested in breaking into the uk market. If they don’t think it’s viable then check carefully

I have considered that indeed, but at this point I still think it is too early to delve deeper into it; while I have to plan everything ahead, firstly I still need to figure out whether or not I can just set up two companies and have them trade with each other in order to then try to resell the imported goods to British retailers.

I would strongly suggest you work out the viability of importing into the UK before worrying about company set up. Some food is easier to import than others some have higher duty rates etc .
You do generally need to have a company established in the UK to import and sell food.
There will be additional administrative costs to complete customs formalities.

Of course you can have two related companies trading with each other . There are however specific rules about customs value between related companies and you may also need to consider transfer pricing rules for tax purposes.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

The way you set this depends on many factors, but you could just set a business up in the UK which purchased from your local suppliers - you can even do this as self employed, but that makes selling a little more difficult.

You must understand and know your costs. Too many people see things that are really cheap locally sold at a much higher price in the UK and see £££'s. When you add in Shipping, duty, VAT, warehousing, distribution etc, that margin all but disappears. This is especially visible with alcohol. A £5 bottle of spirits in Europe will automatically attract £6+ duty in the UK. When you add your costs & profit and think that your clients need to make a few percent, the £5 bottle of spirits becomes £25-30 retail!

 

[eplus]

The way you set this depends on many factors, but you could just set a business up in the UK which purchased from your local suppliers - you can even do this as self employed, but that makes selling a little more difficult.

I could go with only a UK-based business, but I still need some form of a contract between myself and my suppliers as I will require them to put my labels and packaging on their product instead of the labels/packaging they normally put. That makes me think I will need a second company registered in Bulgaria to be able to engage in such a legal agreement.

I would imagine having my own brand specifically targeting the British market is going to make it easier to find a retailer willing to sell it; moreover it is going to alleviate my supplier of all the responsibilities and hassle they need to otherwise go through, if they were to try and sell their product in the UK themselves.

You must understand and know your costs. Too many people see things that are really cheap locally sold at a much higher price in the UK and see £££'s. When you add in Shipping, duty, VAT, warehousing, distribution etc, that margin all but disappears. This is especially visible with alcohol. A £5 bottle of spirits in Europe will automatically attract £6+ duty in the UK. When you add your costs & profit and think that your clients need to make a few percent, the £5 bottle of spirits becomes £25-30 retail!

Of course, that is indeed something to be considered. Which is why I am still at the stage of brainstorming how to set it up. After all, if my plan isn't clear, neither would be all calculations whether it is going to be profitable or not, because I would not know my expenses and my potential income. That being said, I will be contacting the big retailers and see what requirements they might have, but most importantly, how using their distribution and storage network would increase the price. That would indeed provide me with more specific figures about whether or not it is going to be worth it.