The answers you came here for.

Standard formations complete within 24–48 hours of submission. Express formations are typically filed the same day and approved by Companies House within a few hours. The variable is your ID verification — once we have that, the rest is quick.

No. UK limited companies can be formed with directors of any nationality, resident anywhere in the world. The only requirement is that the director is a natural person over 16 and not disqualified from acting as a director in the UK.

Yes. UK companies can have a single person as sole director and 100% shareholder. This is the most common structure for our solo-founder clients.

Passport (or national ID), a proof of address not older than three months (utility bill, bank statement), and basic company information (proposed name, SIC code, share structure). If you're subscribing to shares through a holding entity, we'll need that company's incorporation documents too.

Yes. You can add directors, allot new shares, change share classes, adopt new articles, and perform most restructuring actions after incorporation. We handle all of these post-formation amendments as part of our ongoing accountancy service or as one-off projects.

We guarantee we will make a credible application to a bank matched to your profile. We do not guarantee approval — no firm honestly can, because the final decision rests with the bank's compliance team. However, 89% of our applications are approved on the first submission, and we refund our fee in full if no account opens within 30 days on the Standard tier.

Our panel consists of six UK banks — a mix of established high-street institutions, digital challenger banks, and one specialist international business bank. We don't advertise the specific banks because the match depends entirely on your profile, and we don't want clients self-selecting to the wrong one.

Median opening time across our panel is 11 days from application submission. Faster for digital challenger banks (often under a week), longer for traditional high-street banks (can be 3–4 weeks). We'll tell you the expected timeline for your specific profile before you pay.

No. Every bank in our panel offers fully remote account opening for our clients. Identity verification is done via video call and digital document upload.

Yes — several banks in our panel offer multi-currency accounts with holdings in GBP, USD, EUR, and sometimes additional currencies. This is included by default on our Premium banking tier.

On every tier: monthly bookkeeping, VAT returns where applicable, annual accounts, corporation tax (CT600), confirmation statement, director self-assessment, and all routine HMRC correspondence. On Growth and Enterprise tiers, payroll is also included.

Formal HMRC investigations, transaction advisory (M&A, restructures, complex tax planning for specific events), historical cleanup of pre-engagement periods, and statutory audit. These are either quoted separately or referred out to trusted specialists. We'll always tell you in writing before any extra-cost work begins.

Yes, and we make the switch simple. We write to your current firm under ICAEW professional clearance rules, request your records, notify HMRC and Companies House of the change in authorised agent, and take over your filings. Typical migration: two weeks. You do not miss any filing deadlines in the process.

Yes. On Essentials, you have a named senior accountant. On Growth, a named manager. On Enterprise, a named partner. Your point of contact replies to your emails directly — not via a ticketing system.

Yes, all three. Xero is our default recommendation for new clients, but we work in whichever platform you prefer. If you don't already have one, the subscription cost is on your side (typically £14–£40/month depending on tier) and we'll recommend the right level for your business.

Yes, on any mailbox tier. We're a Companies House-approved registered office provider. You can also use the address as your director service address, and for day-to-day business correspondence.

Within 4 working hours of arrival at our mailroom. Our mailroom is staffed from 09:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday. Mail arriving on Friday afternoon is typically scanned before the end of the day.

Parcels up to 5kg are accepted on the Concierge tier. For Basic and Professional, parcels are accepted on request for an additional £8 per parcel. We store them in our secure area pending your forwarding instructions.

We hold mail for 90 days after service termination, during which we'll forward anything that arrives. After 90 days, unclaimed mail is returned to sender or securely destroyed in line with our data retention policy. You should update your registered office with Companies House before cancelling.

Within one working day, you receive a link to our client portal, your dedicated point of contact's direct email, and a structured onboarding checklist. Your first substantive work begins within five working days.

No. Our accountancy service is billed monthly with no minimum term. You can cancel anytime with 30 days' notice. Mailbox is month-to-month. Formation and banking are one-off fees.

Give us 30 days' notice in writing. We complete any filings currently in progress, prepare a handover pack for your next accountant, and write to HMRC and Companies House to remove ourselves as agent. We do not charge exit fees.

Yes. Your monthly accountancy fee, one-off formation fee, banking fee, and mailbox subscription are all fixed at the amount quoted in your engagement letter. They do not change during the engagement unless we agree a scope change with you in writing — in which case we quote the new fixed amount before starting.

Only for specific advisory projects — HMRC investigations, M&A work, complex tax structuring — and only when agreed in advance. Our rate for hourly advisory work is £195/hr for senior associates and £295/hr for partners.

Direct Debit (our preference for monthly services), card payment via Stripe, bank transfer, and — for international clients — Wise or equivalent. All invoices are in GBP and include VAT where applicable.

Monthly services: no refund for the current month once paid, but you can cancel going forward at any time. Banking introduction: fully refunded if no account is opened within 30 days (Standard tier). Formation: not refundable once Companies House has accepted the application.

We're registered with the ICO as a data controller (reg. ZA12345). All client data is stored on encrypted UK servers, with role-based access within the firm. We maintain a full GDPR compliance framework, and a copy of our data protection policy is available on request.

We're supervised by ICAEW for anti-money-laundering purposes and are legally required to verify the identity and address of every client before providing regulated services. This protects you, the firm, and the integrity of the UK financial system.

We retain your records for seven years after the end of our engagement, in line with HMRC requirements. During that period you can request any of your records at any time. After seven years, records are securely destroyed.

Yes. We carry £5m of Professional Indemnity Insurance underwritten via Lloyd's of London, plus separate client money insurance and cyber liability cover. Full insurance details are on our engagement letter.