Non resident UK ltd high street bank account possible?

[momordica]

Hello guys.

I have a UK LTD company, have been operating for third year now. I’m using Monese for banking. Generating around 30k £ profit per year (turnover is same as it is low expenses IT business). I will scale it eventually to 80k £, just below the VAT line.

I’m moving out of the EU (to Uruguay), so Monese won’t be an option anymore. I plan to accumulate profits in the company, also setting up subsidiary in the EU (receiving dividends), maybe buy real estate eventually.
I want to build up relationship with some high street bank, to have credit history etc. when I decide to go into real estate. I would also feel more comfy having money in high street bank than in some EMI with 5 year history.

What’s your experiences? What’s the odds for success? How can I increase my chance? Do you have any specific bank in mind for my situation? I know it’s hard for non residents, and even harder if I becomr non-EU resident. If Initial deposit is something that will help, I have around 40k £ profit accunulated in the Monese account, and plan increase company’s capital by 10-20k £, so my initial deposit could be around 50-60k £. Personal bank visit is no problem.

Thank you.

 

[Sols]

For the volumes you have mentioned here and without strong ties to the UK, your chances of opening and keeping open an account are practically zero. Barclays, Lloyds, and HSBC (and any other major UK bank) will at times make exception and onboard companies controlled by non-residents. But that's conditional on there being strong business ties to the UK and a high and safe enough account activity to be worth the extra compliance work required.

You can go ahead and open accounts now but sooner or later the banks will realize you're not in the UK anymore and begin a process that will, ultimately, lead to the account being closed.

You could try approaching UK high street banks in Isle of Man, Jersey, or Gibraltar. I'm not sure if they accept Uruguay and they usually want at least 50,000–100,000 GBP and prefer to open personal accounts.

 

[momordica]

Thanks for the info.

Also, unrelated thing. Has companies house become more privacy friendly?
I remember just few months ago there was possible to find real residential address of directors, shareholders, and also profit or assets of the company. That’s positive development, or am I just blind ?

 

[Sols]

That has not changed. A lot of smaller companies only have to file abridged accounts which aren't as detailed.

For directors, you can provide a Service Address instead of the person's residential address. That's not new either.