Setting up in
the UK

Supporting businesses with expert advice on UK regulations, tax, compliance, and strategic planning for a successful market entry.

Grants are often available to inward investors and can clearly help offset the costs of setting up an operation within the UK. As expert advisers, we can help you navigate this process by providing timely, proactive support throughout the process.

In the UK grants are delivered and administered by a wide range of organisations and the availability of funding varies between regions. It is important to understand the levels of support available to you across a range of scenarios to allow you to make an informed decision on where to locate your UK base. Our team have worked with over 400 organisations to secure over £375 million of grant support and so are well placed to provide advice and assistance on this matter.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) also has a raft of support available from government advice to interactive planning and market research tools to help you plan your import strategy.

You can find more information; https://www.great.gov.uk/services/

What are the key actions required for setting up a business in the UK?

Once you have established an appetite and an opportunity to bring your business to the UK, you will need to progress to a detailed plan of action.

Here are some of the factors you will need to consider.

  • Creating an appropriate, tax-efficient business structure is vital and you must secure a VAT registration before any trading begins.
  • In the digital age, systems will form an important part of the process. These could include accounting, pension, treasury, payroll, payment, invoice factoring and compliance systems.
  • Establish structures that ensure efficient cash flow and smooth repatriation of funds to keep your business liquid.
  • Carry out financial due diligence before proceeding with any planned acquisitions.
  • Implement tax planning to maximise reliefs and comply with international financial reporting requirements.
  • Ensuring your operations are fully compliant with UK law is a priority.
  • If you plan to relocate any staff, you may need to determine their tax status and check for any residency issues.

Reviewing the above issues will constitute an audit of the available opportunity. Being aware of the cultural and social differences within the UK market is an important consideration as what works within one market, may not work in another.

Our experts can help you assess the plan and decide how best to progress. They can help you avoid the pitfalls and expedite your journey.

We look forward to starting a conversation with you on how you could grow your business in the UK.

The Forum Darlington

Allison Mckay, CEO and Founder Director, said:
“The Forum is a live music venue and community arts hub in central Darlington. It has rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, and delivers educational services and creative activities. The venue operates as a social enterprise in the form of a Community Benefit Society.
We needed investment to support our growth plan, including ambitious capital improvements to our Borough Road building. We approached the Clive Owen LLP grants team to help with the financial modelling and forecasts needed for a grant application. Their expertise was crucial for our investment bid.
Eleanor Kay from the Clive Owen LLP was assigned to support us. She took great care in understanding our needs and business model. This resulted in a comprehensive set of financial assumptions and forecasts.
I highly recommend Clive Owen LLP, particularly Eleanor and the grants team. Their support has strengthened our business case and growth plan, giving us confidence in our ability to raise investment and achieve our ambitions.”
To find out more about the grants team, click here.

Darlington Forum

At Syselek, we develop innovative technology and toolchain solutions for transport decarbonisation and automation. We have been very fortunate to receive grant funding from Innovate UK. This has helped develop several of our innovative solutions.
One recent project was Fleet AI Recharging (“FAIR”). It explored new AI-based algorithms to accurately predict the energy consumption of electric HGVs. This enables live decisions about smart charging. These decisions help reduce operating costs and accelerate decarbonisation of the freight and logistics sector.
We began working with Clive Owen LLP two years ago. Since then, they have supported all our grant funding audit requirements. Their approach to the audit process is very smooth and intuitive. Their guidance has been easy to follow. Their quick responses to our questions have ensured our full compliance in all grant funding claims. This has enabled us to close out all our projects promptly.
We have been really impressed with the support from the grants team over these last two years. We are fully confident in their support going forward. We would certainly recommend Clive Owen’s grants team to anyone seeking Innovate UK grant funding audit services.

Syselek

“As we have grown we have needed to access more finance and Clive Owen LLP has been absolutely instrumental in helping us to access this finance. They are a very local based firm, and very much work hand in hand with us and are very responsive.”

JH Mechanical

Richmond Fire Engineers LTD

Richmond Fire Engineers design, install and maintain automatic sprinkler systems throughout the UK.

We have been using Kevin Shotton and the team at Clive Owen LLP for over five years now and would not consider using any other accounting firm.

As well as helping with our quarterly and year end accounts, Clive Owen LLP are always at the end of the phone to offer help with our business queries.

Kevin and the team supported our recent management buyout (MBO) which made sure this challenging  process ran very smoothly.

I would recommend Kevin and the team at Clive Owen LLP to anyone who wants an all-round accountancy and business advisory firm to look after them individually and work with them to support their growing business needs.

Richmond Fire Engineers LTD