Doing business in the UK

Key factors influencing their choice to do business in the UK are its strength in innovation, research and development, its close links to many other markets, its time zone and the fact that English remains the most popular language for international trade. The UK has consistently performed well in a number of different global business environment rankings, including the quarterly reports by the Economist Intelligence Unit assessing the best locations for ease of doing business. At the start of 2023, it was named as the third-most important country for business growth in a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey published to mark the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

While the impact of the decision to leave the EU on foreign investment is the subject of much ongoing analysis, the Government has repeatedly emphasised that the UK remains very much ‘open for business’, with the country still scoring highly in terms of its flexible trading environment, competitive tax rates, breadth of public services and robust legal framework. By geography, while the US remains the largest foreign investor in the UK, with notable levels of M&A activity by some US acquirers in particular, there are also significant levels of investment from Asia and Europe.

London’s ability to uphold its position as a global hub following the EU referendum was underlined by being named ‘Europe’s best performing city’ by influential US think tank The Milken Institute in its inaugural index of European cities. Two years after Brexit in 2022, figures published by the City of London Corporation show that in addition to retaining its status as a top financial centre and outperforming the overall business offering of other global destinations such as New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Frankfurt, London continues to be a leading destination for international tech investors. It is currently home to the highest number of European unicorn companies, privately-held or recently floated firms with a valuation of over $1 billion.

At Penningtons Manches Cooper, we have specialists in a broad range of areas likely to be of interest to an incoming business. Our lawyers offer practical guidance on matters such as structuring a UK entity or subsidiary, carrying out acquisitions of businesses and commercial property, commercial contracts, data protection and intellectual property rights. We also deal with immigration, employment law matters, trading regulations, tax planning and wealth management together with sustainability and ethical concerns. As enterprises evolve and develop, so too does our support through a dedicated, multi-disciplinary service tailored to specific needs.