How To Register a Company In the UK From Pakistan?
A step-by-step guide for Pakistani entrepreneurs or businessmen to start and register a company in the UK?
The United Kingdom is by far one of the best venues for you to expand your business from Pakistan, or even start from scratch. What’s even more exciting is that it does not matter if you are a resident or a non-resident, anyone from Pakistan can register their business or a company in the UK, and the steps to do so are quite simple.
While there are multiple online avenues available that will provide you with consultation services to register your business in the UK, while nothing wrong with their services but the reality is it does not take you a PhD. to go through the steps yourself, unless or until there is some complication that you may seem to encounter, otherwise you are good.
In this article, I will take you through the steps you need to register your business from Pakistan to the United Kingdom.
The advantages to registering your company in the UK:
There are many advantages to opening a company in the United Kingdom. These are:
- The UK will allow your business to expose itself to a global market since the UK is an economic powerhouse, and will remain so in the coming years.
- Having a presence in the UK allows you to build trust and safety for your international clients. This is largely due to some strict quality checks and balances that the UK has in place.
- Having a registered company in the UK allows you to get a business bank account which you can then use to make a PayPal, Stripe, and other debit card services that you can link up with your bank account.
- You will be able to avail a free UK phone number for 12 months which you can keep on renewing in the coming months, depending upon your use.
- The registered address linked to your registered business will be able to accept postages and other kinds of important documents that are otherwise not possible for you to receive in Pakistan.
How much money is needed to register a company in the UK?
For non-residents, the fees are fixed regardless of where you are coming from. The fees start from £20 for a small business and will vary depending upon your business. However, this will be the minimum.
The process can take up to 24 to 48 hours depending upon the size of your business and the details associated with it.
What do I need to do to register my business from Pakistan to the UK?
You need to have the following before registering a company in the UK from Pakistan. These include:
- Having a structure of your business. Who is the owner of the business, the secretary, and so on? Hierarchy is important as it helps the authorities to understand how a business is operated. You will have to list it out completely.
- Have the previous tax details that you have filed with FBR in case your business is operational in Pakistan.
- Have a business account number under your business name in Pakistan.
- Passport and CNIC of the owner to double-check who you are and your nationality.
- Proof of your current address. This will be done through the help of a utility bill or a bank statement that has to match with the address on your CNIC. Please note, the utility bill or a bank statement should not be older than 3 months.
How do I register a company in the UK: step-by-step
Now that you have an understanding of why you would want to register your business in the UK as a non-resident, the followings are the steps that you will have to go through:
You can go for a step-by-step process or hire a consulting agency to help you set up a company in the UK from Pakistan:
Hire Consultisor:
Instead of learning the whole process and going through the entire process where you have to wait for legal documents, it is better to hire someone who already has some experience in this field. Consultisor is a consulting firm based in Karachi that could help you set up a UK company from Pakistan. They have all the resources to help you with anything related to registering a company in the UK from Pakistan. Contact Consultisor here and set up a UK company now.
1. Choosing a business name:
This process is the most obvious one but most people often get it wrong. In order for you to make sure there are problems with this step, it is a good practice to do a simple Google search and see if there are already some businesses in the UK operating under the name of your business that operates in Pakistan. If you are starting from scratch, even then it is a good practice to do a search for your business name.
Please make sure that the name you selected is unique and new. Otherwise, if there is already a company registered under that name, your application will be rejected and then you will have to re-apply.
2. Type of Company or Business:
After selecting your name, the next step is to select what kind of company you want to register. There are four main types from which you will have to choose to make sure which is where your business falls. These include:
- Private Company — Limited by Shares
- Private Company — Limited by Guarantee
- Private Unlimited Company
- Public Limited Company (PLC)
3. Finding the right business or company form:
Now that you have basic information about your company or business. The next step is visiting the Gov.uk website where multiple forms depending upon the type of your company are available, however, the main form is OS IN01 is what you will be filling and submitting to the Companies House UK.
4. Enter company details:
The last step you will have to fill on the OS IN01 form is the company details. This step is critically important so make sure all the details that are being asked are provided to you with utmost clarity and sincerity, since this may cause some hiccups in the long run. The details that will be asked about your company will include:
- Registered address and date of your business’s incorporation in Pakistan
- Number of employees, including those who have resigned
- Mortgage charge sheet if you have any Pakistani bank.
- The previous name of your business, if you had any.
5. Making a payment:
Once you are done filling everything asked on the OS IN01 form, the next step is to make a payment of £20. This can be done through the help of your Visa debit or Mastercard. The moment your payment is transferred, you will receive confirmation notice and email, and thus your registration process will start from there.
While in most of the cases, it usually takes about 24 to 48 hours, however, in some cases it can even take 4 to 7 days. So it is better to expect the complete registration within a week.
Depending upon the type of business you get registered, after every 2 years, you will be renewing your registration for £23.76 + Value Added Tax.
How to open a business bank account in the UK?
Once your business is registered in the United Kingdom, you receive a confirmation from them. The next step for you is to make a business account because from this account you will be receiving or sending payments directly to your business or clients. Opening a business bank account will take only 5 to 10 minutes and can be done either online or offline, depending upon which bank you choose and what type of business account you want to open.
The majority of the business bank accounts have no monthly fees, and the transfer fee is 1% per transaction. In addition, you will be provided with a free bank ATM card so you can withdraw money.
Lastly, some banks will be free to set up whereas others may charge a small fee which is again dependent on the type of your business.
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