Your Guide to Registering and Establishing a Subsidiary in the UK

How to set up a UK subsidiary, register a subsidiary company in the UK and establish a strategic UK based entity with confidence.

If your overseas business is planning to expand its footprint into the UK, one of the most focused and effective options is to set up a UK subsidiary. That means you establish a subsidiary in the UK, register it as a distinct legal entity and operate with the credibility and flexibility of a UK based company.

At Paul Beare, we specialise in helping international companies navigate every step of the subsidiary setup process from strategy and registration to governance, compliance and next phase growth.

Why Choose to Establish a Subsidiary in the UK?

When you decide to open a subsidiary in the UK, you benefit from:

A separate legal entity, ring fencing your UK operations from your overseas parent’s liabilities.

Enhanced credibility with UK based customers, suppliers, banks and regulators - important when you’re foreign owned and want a strong UK presence.

Clear UK tax, accounting and corporate governance frameworks, making compliance manageable and reliable.

A structure better aligned with growth, hiring UK based staff, entering UK contracts and scaling operations over time.

As the UK government’s ‘Expand Your Business in the UK’ guide notes: when you set up a subsidiary, you’re creating a separate legal entity in the UK to your existing company.

However, a subsidiary is a serious step and comes with responsibilities. You’ll need to weigh costs, compliance and maintenance against the benefits.

Key Steps in the Subsidiary Setup Process

Here is the typical path to register a subsidiary company UK and how we support you along the way:

Strategic structuring and planning

Before you register, we’ll help you consider:

Whether a UK subsidiary is the right entity for you vs a branch or representative office.
How your overseas parent company will own the UK entity, how profits will flow, and how the structure will support hiring UK staff, banking, and UK contracts.
Your UK board/governance, accounting, tax, and HR framework, all of which influence effective subsidiary setup.

Company formation and registration

We guide you through the formal steps to register subsidiary in the UK:

Choosing a company name, preparing the Memorandum & Articles of Association.
Appointing directors (UK resident or otherwise, depending on strategy), shareholders, and establishing a UK registered office address.
Filing the relevant forms (e.g., IN01) with Companies House and paying the registration fee.
Receiving the Certificate of Incorporation and Company Registration Number.

At Paul Beare, we handle the paperwork, guide you through deadlines and ensure everything is compliant from the start.

Post incorporation setup and compliance

Once registered, you’ll need to:

Open a UK bank account (a frequent bottleneck for overseas-owned companies).
Set up UK payroll (if hiring), VAT registration (where needed), and UK accounting/annual accounts filing.
Maintain statuatory records., register persons with significant control (PSC), file confirmation statements, and prepare for year-end accounts.

We provide wrap-around support, so your UK subsidiary is operational, compliant, and aligned with your global operations.

Pros & Cons

Creating a Subsidiary Company UK

Advantages

Liability is ring fenced from the parent company.
Increased credibility in the UK market (banks, suppliers, customers).
Facilitates UK hiring, contracts and local operations.
Clear path for growth, acquisition, partner deals and scale.

Potential Challenges

Higher administrative, governance and accounting costs compared with simpler structures.
Requires separate UK accounting, tax compliance (Corporation Tax, VAT) and filings.
Decision making may require alignment between parent and UK board; may introduce complexity.
If UK operations remain very small or transactional, simpler structures (branch) might be more cost effective.

Why Choose Paul Beare

Assist with Your UK Subsidiary Setup?

When you engage us for your subsidiary in the UK, you’re tapping into a service built for overseas companies:

Dedicated international expertise: We specialise in helping global organisations set up UK subsidiaries, understand cross‑border ownership, tax, banking, payroll and governance.

End‑to‑end support: From entity registration and board set‑up, to accounting, tax, bookkeeping and ongoing compliance – we cover it all.

Seamless integration with your parent company: We understand you’ll want UK operations to feed into your global structure; we align our services with your wider group.

Speed and efficiency: We streamline processes, so your subsidiary setup process is handled quickly and with minimal friction.

A trusted partner: We provide a single point of contact, clear steps, plain‑English guidance – you aren’t left navigating alone.

Set Up a UK Subsidiary