Setting up a business in the UK
Our lawyers provide expert legal advice to manage legal risk and maximise returns as a genuine and trusted business partner for our clients.
The UK remains one of the most straightforward places in the world to set up a business. Incorporating a company can take as little as 24 hours, and there are few restrictions on foreign ownership or control.
It is important to think about the structure you choose, and the way you set it up, as this will shape your tax position, your compliance obligations, and how easily you can raise finance or bring in overseas talent for years to come.
Our legal teams help UK and overseas businesses choose the right structure, get it in place quickly and put the ongoing compliance in order from day one — so you can focus on the day to day business rather than paperwork.
Boyes Turner combines the level of expertise expected of City firms with a ‘more personal touch’.
Our services
The right structure depends on your ownership, your funding plans, your appetite for liability and how much of a UK presence you actually need. Our corporate team works closely with colleagues across the firm, including our:
Commercial
Where commercial agreements — supplier, distribution, licensing, partnership that support your growth strategy are required our corporate and commercial teams will work closely together.
Corporate
Our corporate team will work with you on the structure of your business. Once decided we can support with incorporation, shareholder and corporate governance, registered office and company secretarial, regulatory and ongoing management and director duties.
Dispute Resolution
We have one of the largest commercial litigation teams in the region. We act for both claimants and defendants and combine legal expertise with pragmatism to deliver straight talking advice.
Employment & Immigration
Putting the right structures in place to attract and retain talent to support growth, including employment contracts, sponsoring overseas workers where the skills you need aren’t available locally.
Family Investment Companies (FICs)
Family business – there has been a rise in popularity of Family Investment Companies (FICs) as a tax-efficient tool for wealth and generational planning. Our corporate team work closely with our Private Wealth teams on FICs.
Property
Where a business decides it needs to take on new premises, expanding existing sites, or restructuring how you occupy commercial property as your footprint grows.
Who we help
At the moment you might be looking to launch a UK business, however, we help with growth and strategy, looking ahead to your next chapter, our teams are built to support businesses like yours at all stages.
Ambitious start-ups
Getting the foundations right from day one, from incorporation and shareholder agreements to protecting your IP.
Owner-managed businesses
Practical, commercially focused advice that understands the pressures of running your own company.
SMEs and scale-ups
Supporting the legal demands of growth: new contracts, new people, new markets.
UK and international corporates
Sophisticated, multi-disciplinary advice across sectors from tech and hospitality to healthcare, water and agriculture.
Setting up a business in the UK - FAQs
Do I need a UK lawyer and a lawyer in another country in international matters?
Whether you need a local lawyer depends on the nature of your matter and the jurisdiction involved.
For many international matters, such as cross-border contracts, corporate transactions, property purchases, or estate planning, our UK-based international specialists can provide advice and handle much of the work.
However, certain local laws, registration requirements, or regulatory approvals may require the expertise of a lawyer licensed in that country. Where this is necessary, we work closely with a trusted network of local lawyers worldwide, ensuring you receive seamless, coordinated advice that is fully compliant.
How do you coordinate with lawyers in other countries?
We have a network of trusted partner lawyers worldwide and a proven track record of working closely with them on cross-border matters. By coordinating across time zones and anticipating potential issues, we help keep international matters on track and moving forward smoothly, so work is completed efficiently and to a high standard.
How do you ensure compliance with both UK law and foreign laws?
We take a proactive and coordinated approach to cross-border legal matters. Our UK-based solicitors regularly handle international work, keeping up to date with developments in both UK and foreign law. We collaborate with other specialists who provide guidance and flag potential issues, and when local expertise is required, we work closely with a trusted network of partner lawyers worldwide. This approach allows us to identify conflicts early, ensure all regulatory and legal obligations are met, and implement solutions that comply with both UK law and the relevant foreign requirements.
It is therefore important to appoint somebody who is responsible and organised. It is possible to appoint more than one executor, and being a beneficiary in the Will does not preclude somebody from being named as an executor.
We always recommend that you check in advance with those you have in mind that they are willing to be appointed as an executor, to help avoid any issues at a later stage. A named executor is not obliged to accept the responsibility.
In the UK is Solicitor and a Lawyer the same thing?
Lawyer is a general term used to describe people who provide legal services. A solicitor is a lawyer who has been admitted as a solicitor by the Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA) and whose name appears on the solicitors register on the SRA website.
International clients
Boyes Turner have worked with a wide range of international businesses or representatives at organisations including:
Business
- Becton Dickinson
- Culligan International
- Circor International Inc
- Ericsson Group
- Frasers Hospitality (Malmaison and Hotel du Vin Group)
- Guardian News & Media Limited
- Origin Enterprises plc
- Porsche Group
- Zimmer Biomet Group
Sports
Alongside many Premier League and Football league clubs, golf clubs and cricketers, Boyes Turner have worked with International sports teams or clubs’ players including:
- AFC Monaco
- FC Bayern Munich
- Premier League & championship players
Related legal Services
Corporate Governance
Employee ownership trusts (EOTs)
Our expert EOT solicitors provide trusted guidance and comprehensive support throughout every stage of establishing an Employee Ownership Trust.
Funding & investment
Joint venture agreements
We advise businesses of all sizes, from entrepreneurial start-ups and growing local businesses to listed multinationals — on the negotiation, preparation and structuring of joint venture arrangements.
Mergers & acquisitions (M&A)
The Boyes Turner team of M&A lawyers work with clients from initial deal structuring and heads of terms, management of the legal due diligence process, the negotiation and agreement of final form documents and post-completion support.
Restructuring a business
Reorganisations could be a pre-cursor to a sale of all or part of the group’s business, or a post-acquisition process. Benefits include the simplification of reporting and a reduced cost and compliance burden.
Shareholder agreements
Our corporate lawyers have extensive experience of advising businesses of all sizes, drafting clear, practical, and tailored agreements that reflect commercial objectives whilst minimising risk.
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Contact us
If you have any questions or would like advice on a related matter, please complete the form and one of our experts will be in touch as soon as possible.
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