Company formation in Glasgow

Starting a business in Glasgow

Glasgow City Council's investment strategy names five sectors it expects to keep attracting investment and high-value jobs: financial and business services, life sciences and precision medicine, the creative and digital economy, the green economy, and space and satellite technology.

In practice that means a wide mix of new companies. We see consultants and contractors serving the city's banks and professional firms, software and games studios, video and design businesses, and engineers working on clean energy or satellite components. Many Glasgow founders also start more traditional businesses: trades, hospitality, retail and property.

Whatever you do, a limited company keeps your personal assets separate from the business and gives you a clear structure for taking on co-founders or investors. Whether a company is right for your tax position depends on your circumstances, so it is worth a short conversation with an accountant before you decide.

Which registered office do you need?

Most Glasgow businesses register their company in Scotland. A Scottish company gets a company number starting with SC, and the law says its registered office must be an address in Scotland. A London address will not work for it.

You have two simple options:

• Use your own Glasgow address. This can be your home or your business premises, but it will appear on the public register and on data websites.
• Use our Edinburgh address. Our Registered Office Address service (£250 a year) gives your company an Edinburgh registered office. Official mail from Companies House, HMRC and the courts is scanned and emailed to you, so you can stay in Glasgow and never collect a letter.

If you really plan to trade mainly in England, you can register the company in England and Wales instead and use our central London registered office. You cannot move a company between nations later just by changing the address, so choose at the start. Ask us if you are unsure.

We do not have an office in Glasgow. We work fully online from our base in Edinburgh, so everything is done by email, phone and your online client account.

Local support for new businesses in Glasgow

Glasgow has free, publicly funded help for people starting out:

• Business Gateway Glasgow is the local office of Scotland's publicly funded business support service. It offers a 10-minute online Business Support Tool, a business plan guide and template, market reports, a research service and webinars. Its office is at Exchange House, 231 George Street, Glasgow G1 1RX.
• Business & IP Centre Glasgow is part of the British Library's national network and is based in the Mitchell Library on North Street. It helps with market research, business information and intellectual property such as trade marks.
• Business Glasgow is the council's business growth team, linked from the Business Gateway Glasgow page for businesses that want to expand.

None of these bodies forms companies, but they are a good place to test your plan, research your market and find funding programmes once your company exists.

Example: a games studio in Glasgow

This is an illustration, not a real client. Aisha and Ross are two developers who want to launch a small games studio in Glasgow and pitch to publishers. They want a Scottish company and do not want either home address on the public register.

They chose our Privacy Package at £1,000. It gives them our Edinburgh registered office and a director service address for the first year, plus a virtual trading address and a free .co.uk domain. They each verified their identity through us as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, and the company was registered with an SC number the next working day. They then booked a call with Business Gateway Glasgow to work on their business plan before approaching publishers.

How it works

1. Check your name and order online. There is no need to visit us.
2. Verify your identity. As a Companies House Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), we check the identity of each director and person with significant control (PSC) and help you get your personal code.
3. We file the application with Companies House. Most companies are registered within 24 hours of us receiving complete details.
4. You receive your documents in your online account, and we register the company with HMRC for Corporation Tax.

Next steps

For a straightforward Scottish company with your own Glasgow address as the registered office, the Digital Package at £290 is enough. If you want to keep your address private, choose the Privacy Package or add our Registered Office Address. Start with a free company name check.

Frequently asked questions

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