For UK founders · Independent · Always free
Everything you need to start a business in the United Kingdom.
UK Startup is a calm, plain-English guide for people opening their first business in the UK. From choosing a legal structure to your first VAT return — we walk you through every decision, with links to official sources.
First 90 days
- 01
Validate the idea
Customer interviews, market research, pricing
- 02
Pick a legal structure
Sole trader, partnership, or Ltd
- 03
Register with HMRC / Companies House
Self Assessment or company formation
- 04
Open a business bank account
Separate finances from day one
- 05
Set up bookkeeping
Software, receipts, invoicing
- 06
Launch & find first customers
Marketing, website, network
Partner offers
Two offers worth claiming on day one
A free Tide business bank account with up to £200 cash (£75 after £100 of card transactions in 30 days, plus £125 after depositing £5,000 within 7 days), and the Capital on Tap credit card with 7,500 bonus points. Both apply in minutes, both come with codes exclusive to UK Startup readers.
Business bank account
Reader offerTide Business Account
£200 free cash
£75 when you complete £100 of card transactions within 30 days, plus a further £125 when you deposit £5,000 within 7 days. No credit check, open in 5 minutes.
REFER200Business credit card
Reader offerCapital on Tap business credit card
7,500 free points
Get 7,500 points (worth £75) when you complete your first card transaction within 30 days. 1% uncapped cashback. Up to £250k credit limit.
SETTINGUP18+, UK residents only. Offers are subject to each provider's terms. Tide: £75 paid after completing £100 of card transactions within 30 days of opening, plus a further £125 paid after depositing £5,000 within 7 days (total £200, code REFER200). Capital on Tap: 7,500 points (≈ £75) after first card transaction within 30 days; credit subject to status. We may receive a commission if you sign up — it doesn't change the offer to you.
The essentials
Six things every UK founder needs to understand.
Legal & Structure
Sole trader, limited company or partnership — choose the right setup and register correctly.
Read guideTax & HMRC
Self Assessment, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE — what to register for and when.
Read guideFunding & Finance
Start Up Loans, grants, angel investment and how to open a business bank account.
Read guideMarketing & Growth
Build a brand, find your first customers and grow without a big budget.
Read guideSupport & Resources
Mentors, free tools, government schemes and trade bodies worth knowing.
Read guideStart-Up Checklist
A step-by-step checklist for your first 90 days of trading in the UK.
Read guideThe toolkit
Working tools, not just articles.
Live calculators, copy-paste templates, deep how-tos, independent comparisons and 30+ glossary definitions — everything a UK founder actually has to do, in one place.
Calculators
Take-home pay, dividend tax, VAT, employer NI and Self Assessment — all using HMRC 2025/26 rates.
OpenHow-to walkthroughs
Step-by-step guides to registering as a sole trader, setting up a Ltd, VAT, Self Assessment and PAYE.
OpenTemplates
Copy-paste UK invoice, mutual NDA, IR35-aware contractor agreement and 12-month cashflow forecast.
OpenIndependent comparisons
Best UK business bank accounts, accounting software, website builders and card readers — no affiliate links.
OpenStart a [industry]
Specific guides for cleaning, dog walking, freelance, e-commerce, consultancy and cafés.
OpenInsurance, demystified
Public liability, professional indemnity, employer's liability and contents — what you legally need vs what's just marketing.
OpenUK business glossary
From UTR to IR35 to PSC — 30+ definitions in plain English, with letter jump-nav.
OpenInsights & analysis
Considered takes on UK SMB policy, tax changes and funding markets — for founders, not journalists.
Open800k+
new UK businesses started each year
60%
of UK private sector employment is SMEs
£25k
max Start Up Loan from the British Business Bank
Who UK Startup is for
Whether you're three months from launch or three months in.
Most start-up guidance is written either for venture-backed tech founders in London or for tax professionals fluent in HMRC's vocabulary. Neither describes the reality of most UK businesses — a one-person consultancy in Manchester, a small Bristol bakery, a Glasgow plumber going limited.
UK Startup is written for you. We translate the official guidance into ordinary English, point out the decisions other guides skip past, and link straight to the GOV.UK page for the thing we just explained. No jargon, no upsells, no affiliate links — just a careful guide through a complicated system.
Aspiring founders
You have an idea and want to know what registering, taxing and trading actually involves before you commit.
Recently registered
You've set up the company but you're nervous about your first VAT return, payroll, or accounts.
Side-hustlers
Your side income just crossed the £1,000 trading allowance and HMRC now expects a Self Assessment.
Sole traders going Ltd
You're profitable enough that incorporating might save tax — but you want to understand the trade-offs.
Our promise
Four principles that shape every guide on this site.
01
Official sources only
Every fact links to GOV.UK, HMRC, Companies House or another official UK source. No second-hand summaries.
02
Plain English
If we use a piece of jargon, we define it in the same sentence. No assumed knowledge.
03
Decisions, not just facts
We tell you what choice we'd make and why — not just the list of options.
04
Free, always
No affiliate links, no paid placements, no 'premium tier'. The guides are the product.
Your first year
A realistic timeline.
Most UK businesses don't go from idea to thriving in 30 days. Here's the honest sequence — and the decisions you'll face along the way.
Month 0
Idea & validation
Talk to 20 potential customers before you spend a penny on branding. Confirm there's a real, paid problem to solve.
Month 1
Structure & registration
Choose sole trader, partnership or limited. Register with HMRC or Companies House. Open a separate bank account.
Month 2
The plumbing
Bookkeeping software, insurance, contracts, domain name, basic website. The infrastructure that lets you trade.
Month 3
First customers
Direct outreach to your network and ideal-customer list. Aim for 5 paying customers before optimising anything else.
Months 4–6
Repeatable sales
Find one channel that reliably brings customers — referrals, SEO, local presence, a single ad campaign — and double down.
Months 7–12
Returns, reviews & growth
First Self Assessment or accounts. Quarterly VAT returns once over £90k. Hiring, pension auto-enrolment if you employ.
You don't need to figure this out alone.
UK Startup brings together the guidance from GOV.UK, HMRC, Companies House and the British Business Bank into a single, calm read — written for humans, not bureaucrats.
Open the start-up guide