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For most people abroad, a UK company means a private company limited by shares, the Ltd. It works as a trading company selling into Britain, as the holding company of a group, or as the British subsidiary of a business based elsewhere, and it is the form we supply ready-made or register new. It is not a low-tax vehicle. A company incorporated in the United Kingdom is resident there for corporation tax by statute (Corporation Tax Act 2009, section 14), wherever its directors live, and only a double taxation agreement can place its residence elsewhere. Owners choose it for other reasons: a register anyone can search, more than 130 comprehensive tax treaties, and company law that lets shareholders and directors live in any country.
| Form | Main legal rule | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Ltd | No statutory minimum capital; one shareholder and one director who is an individual are enough | Founders, holding structures, subsidiaries of overseas groups |
| PLC | At least £50,000 of allotted share capital, with every share at least a quarter paid up | Companies selling shares to the public or heading for a listing |
| LLP | Two or more members carrying on a business for profit; no shares | Professional practices that want partnership ownership |
| UK establishment | An overseas company registers it within one month of opening for business and remains the legal person | Foreign companies that prefer a branch to a subsidiary |
The registration procedure for each form is on our page on UK company formation.
| Tax | Position for a UK Ltd |
|---|---|
| Corporation tax | Main rate 25%; small profits rate 19% while profits stay within the lower threshold of £50,000; marginal relief up to the upper threshold of £250,000, with both limits cut for short periods and shared among associated companies |
| VAT | Standard rate 20%; registration becomes compulsory once taxable turnover for the past 12 months goes over the £90,000 threshold, or is expected to within the next 30 days |
| Dividends paid out | Generally no withholding tax, whatever the shareholder’s country |
| Interest and royalties paid out | 20% withholding under domestic law, which a tax treaty can lower |
| Residence | Incorporation in the UK makes the company UK resident unless a treaty tie-breaker decides otherwise |
| Treaty network | More than 130 comprehensive double taxation agreements in force |
Nationality and residence play no part in UK company law. Shareholders can be people or companies anywhere in the world, and directors may live abroad too, as long as at least one of them is an individual aged 16 or over. A private company needs no secretary. What must be in Britain is the registered office, an appropriate address where post comes to the attention of someone acting for the company, together with a registered email address for messages from the registrar. The office also stays in the part of the UK chosen when the company was registered: England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. A company of England and Wales can move from Birmingham to London, but not to Glasgow.
Control is public. A person with significant control (PSC) is anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, able to appoint or remove most of the board, or otherwise exercising significant influence or control, and Companies House publishes those entries for anyone to search, without home addresses. Since 18 November 2025 each new director has had to verify their identity with Companies House before appointment, online through GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, and a PSC added since that date gives a personal code as well.
Three deadlines repeat every year. A confirmation statement reaches Companies House at least once in every 12 months, confirming officers, shareholders, PSCs and SIC code and that the intended activities are lawful. Accounts follow nine months after each financial year ends, except the very first set, which has 21 months from registration. For HMRC, corporation tax is paid nine months and a day after the accounting period ends, and the return is due 12 months after it. For financial years starting on or after 6 April 2025, a company that meets two of three tests, turnover up to £15 million, assets up to £7.5 million and 50 employees or fewer, needs no audit unless members with 10% demand one. Changes of director or PSC are reported within 14 days.
The account is opened after registration by a bank or an electronic money institution on its own criteria, and the high-street banks shape their online applications around UK residents. Barclays and NatWest want at least one UK resident on the application, HSBC’s small business account asks for UK tax residence, Starling requires every PSC and every director with access to live in the UK, and Monzo does not support dormant companies. Wise and Airwallex publish no residence rule for directors, but as electronic money institutions they safeguard client money instead of offering the bank deposit protection of up to £120,000 per eligible depositor. For an overseas-owned company that wants a full UK bank account, government guidance points to the bank’s inward investment team rather than a branch or an online form.
The United Kingdom is also one of the places where a shelf company can realistically be bought with an account already open, for a buyer the bank accepts: the account continues after the share sale, but the bank repeats its due diligence on the new owners and may keep it, ask for more or close it. Provider rules are collected on our page on bank accounts for UK companies, and the general mechanics on shelf companies with bank accounts.
A new Ltd is the default route, and in Britain buying is not about saving time, because GOV.UK says an online application is usually registered within 24 hours. A ready made UK company earns its place in three situations: a client, marketplace or tender asks for a company incorporated before a certain date; you want a name that a dormant company already holds; or you want a shelf company with an existing account, as described above. Otherwise a new registration gives you the same Ltd with your own name and articles from day one. The share purchase, stamp duty and the checks to run on the register are covered on our page on UK shelf companies, and registration on the formation page.
We can supply a ready-made UK company or form a new one, prepare the transfer or incorporation documents and the Companies House filings, help prepare the bank application and, where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, make an introduction, with the decision left to the bank alone.
It is a private limited company that was registered at Companies House and then kept dormant, never trading, until a buyer takes over its shares and replaces its directors. Legally it is the same Ltd as one registered today, with the same filing duties. What sets it apart is an earlier incorporation date and a run of dormant filings, both visible to anyone who searches the register. Off the shelf company and ready made company are other names for the same thing.
Sometimes, and the UK is one of the countries where this is realistic. The account stays with the company when the shares are sold, but the change of owners obliges the bank to look again at the people behind it under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. Having reviewed the new shareholders, directors and PSCs, it keeps the account, asks for further information or closes it.
Not in the EU sense. A UK Ltd sits outside the single market, and the EU directives that removed withholding tax between associated companies no longer reach it: the Parent-Subsidiary Directive fell away at the end of 2020, and the UK repealed its Interest and Royalties rules for payments from 1 June 2021. Its cross-border position now rests on more than 130 British tax treaties. A buyer who needs a company inside the EU should look at an EU jurisdiction such as Ireland.
Anyone. The register of people with significant control is published by Companies House and names every individual who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights or controls the company in another way; home addresses are withheld. Directors appear on the same public record, and since November 2025 directors and PSCs have been verifying their identity with Companies House.
Generally not. A UK company pays dividends without deducting tax, wherever the shareholder lives; the exceptions concern certain real estate investment vehicles. Interest and royalties are treated differently: domestic law requires 20% to be withheld from UK-source interest and from royalties, and a double taxation agreement with the recipient’s country can reduce that rate.
Weighing up a UK company? Tell us what it will do and who will own and run it through our contact page, and ask which ready-made UK companies are available now or what a new registration would need. Telegram and WhatsApp work too, on +48 663 247 166.