As part of his work helping Australian companies make the leap to setting up in the UK, earlier this week Paul Beare hosted two separate workshops, one in Sydney, the other in Melbourne. Both were held in collaboration with the UK’s Department of International Trade, which sent along team members to support and answer any questions.
The workshops revealed one especially encouraging theme across all companies that attended: a real excitement and willingness to embrace the British market, coupled with a keen appetite to expand and take their story to the world stage.
Just over 15 companies attended both events. They represented a varied selection of companies – from owner–managed businesses to ASX listed entities already some way along their growth path. Some already had a UK presence, whereas others were just beginning to expand overseas.
How to succeed
As part of the workshops, and to help attendees understand the issues they will need to navigate when setting up in the UK, Paul talked through top 10 points for UK success:
And clearly the tips struck a chord, prompting questions from the audience that focused on the differences and similarities between the UK and Australia. One of the most pressing topics of concern focused on pension/superannuation, where some clear differences do exist between the UK and Australian regimes.
A clear vision
In addition, delegates were keen to ask about the different banking set up in the UK, and what type of challenges were involved in opening a UK bank account. Not surprisingly, those present were also keen to find out what options were available in the interim until such the main account becomes operational.
Despite the political upheaval of recent years, the most recent election result does at least mean that the UK will remain an attractive environment to set up and run a business, with one of the lowest tax corporate rates among the G-7 countries: currently on 19%.
Indeed, as the Brexit process begins in earnest, it’s likely that some of the uncertainty will begin to clear, making a move to the UK all the more attractive to innovative growing companies from across the world.
If you need help taking the next step to success in the UK, get in touch.