Best UK company formation agents for non-residents in 2026
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Forming a UK limited company from abroad is easy. Choosing who forms it for you is where founders lose money.
Every formation agent in the UK can file an incorporation. The differences that matter to a non-resident sit elsewhere: whether the package includes the London address you are legally required to have, whether the agent can verify your identity for Companies House when you cannot use the government app, whether it can get you to a working bank account, and what the same package costs when it renews in year two.
That last point is the one almost nobody compares, because almost every comparison you will find is written by a UK agent selling its own package. This one ranks providers on what a founder living outside the UK actually needs, with every figure checked on the providers’ own pages in September 2026.
At a glance
| Rank | Provider | Best for | Year one price | What renews in year two |
| 1 | CorpSec | Best overall for non-resident founders | All-in quote, built per company | Quoted upfront with the year one price |
| 2 | Your Company Formations | An all-in London address bundle | £98.48 + £100 Companies House fee | Filing service at £128 + VAT per year |
| 3 | Quality Company Formations | The lowest entry price | £19.99 + £100 Companies House fee | Registered office £39 + VAT, service address £26 + VAT |
| 4 | Companies MadeSimple | Fee and ID checks bundled in one price | From £104.99 + VAT, £100 fee included | Address and service renewals, priced per tier |
| 5 | Direct with Companies House | The cheapest legal route | £100 | £50 confirmation statement, plus any address you rent |
Prices checked on 14 September 2026. Agents change offers monthly, so treat these as a snapshot and read the renewal line before you pay.
How we ranked them
Five criteria, all of them specific to founders who do not live in the UK:
- The real year one price, with the £100 Companies House fee added where it is not included.
- The year two price, because an address that feels included in year one renews automatically.
- A registered office and director’s service address. A non-resident has no UK address to use, and since March 2024 a PO Box no longer qualifies as a registered office.
- Identity verification. Mandatory for new directors since November 2025. Agents authorised as ACSPs can verify you when the GOV.UK One Login route does not work with your documents.
- A realistic banking route, since opening the account is the step that stalls most non-resident companies.
The £100 every package hides
Before comparing agents, fix the one number they all share. Companies House doubled its fees on 1 February 2026: digital incorporation now costs £100, paper incorporation £124, same-day digital incorporation £156, and the annual confirmation statement £50.
That is why a “£12.99 company” is really a £112.99 company, and why comparisons that still quote the old £12 or £50 fee are out of date. The headline package price is the smallest decision you will make. The full picture, including the address, the accountant and the lines that only exist because you live abroad, is laid out in this breakdown of the UK company registration cost for non-resident founders, dated figure by figure.
Once you have that baseline, agents become easy to compare: subtract £100 from any all-in price and what remains is the service you are actually buying.
- CorpSec: Best overall for non-resident founders
Most UK formation agents are built for UK residents and adapted for everyone else. CorpSec starts from the opposite end: its clients are founders who do not live in the country where they incorporate.
That shows in what the service covers. Incorporation, the registered office, the filings and banking introductions are handled end to end, remotely, for a founder who will never walk into a UK branch. Instead of a teaser price followed by renewals discovered on the first anniversary, CorpSec quotes the company all-in, with the year two cost set out before you commit. For a non-resident, that single difference removes the most common surprise in this market.
The second reason it ranks first is that a UK company is rarely a founder’s only company. Many non-residents set up the UK entity next to something else: a Hong Kong company for Asian suppliers, a Delaware LLC for US customers, a Singapore entity for fundraising, or a UAE free zone company for where they actually live. CorpSec runs all of those jurisdictions from one account, so the UK company does not become a separate provider, a separate renewal calendar and a separate set of logins.
Choose it if you live outside the UK, want the full cost fixed before you sign, or already run, or plan to run, entities in more than one country.
- Your Company Formations: Best for an all-in London address bundle
Your Company Formations sells a dedicated Non-Resident UK Company Formation Package at £98.48, with the £100 Companies House fee paid on top, so £198.48 on the first invoice.
The package includes a registered office in London EC1, a director’s service address and a business trading address, so your home address never appears on the public register. The firm is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, which means it can complete your Companies House identity verification and help you obtain the personal code each director now needs.
Year two: the bundled filing service renews at £128 plus VAT per year, and Companies House still charges its own £50 for the confirmation statement. Budget a little over £200 a year to keep the company in good standing before any accounting.
Choose it if your UK company is your only company and you want one UK specialist to handle the address, the ID check and the annual filing.
- Quality Company Formations: Best for the lowest entry price
Quality Company Formations has the cheapest entry point among established agents: a Non-Residents Package at £19.99 plus the £100 Companies House fee, so about £120 to incorporate. The company is usually ready within one working day.
The package includes a Central London registered office and a service address, free for the first 12 months. That is where the year two cost appears. The registered office renews at £39 plus VAT a year and the director’s service address at £26 plus VAT. If you add the business address service, it renews at £96 plus VAT. The package also includes a business account referral to Wise, which gives successful applicants a UK sort code and account number.
Year two: roughly £78 for the two address renewals with VAT, plus the £50 confirmation statement. Still low, but four times the entry price once you add the state fee.
Choose it if you are price sensitive, comfortable filing the confirmation statement yourself, and disciplined about cancelling services you do not use before they renew.
- Companies MadeSimple: Best for fee and ID checks in one price
Companies MadeSimple takes a different approach to pricing. Its non-resident packages start at £104.99 plus VAT with the £100 Companies House fee and the ID checks already included, rising to £159.99 and £199.99 plus VAT for tiers that add more services. The tiers that include its London N1 registered office are the ones a non-resident actually needs, so compare those rather than the entry tier.
The practical advantage is predictability at checkout. It also lists banking partners including Revolut, Tide, Anna, Cashplus and Barclays, although eligibility for any of them depends on the bank’s own residency rules, not on the formation agent.
Year two: address and service renewals apply per tier. Check the renewal price shown before checkout, because it is the number that will repeat.
Choose it if you prefer an inclusive UK price over the lowest possible headline.
- Direct with Companies House: Best for the cheapest legal route
You do not need an agent at all. Anyone can incorporate online directly with Companies House for £100, with no minimum capital and no requirement for a UK-resident director.
For a non-resident, though, “direct” rarely stays cheap. You still need an appropriate UK registered office, which you will have to rent, typically £20 to £60 a year on the market. A director’s service address, at around £26 a year, keeps your home address off the public register. You must verify your identity yourself through GOV.UK One Login, which works best with a biometric passport. And you file the £50 confirmation statement every year without reminders.
Choose it if you already have a UK address you can lawfully use, your documents work with One Login, and you are confident with Companies House filings.
Year two is where packages differ
The cheapest year one is not the cheapest company. This is what the same founder pays on the first anniversary, before any accountant:
| Provider | Year two, before accounting |
| CorpSec | Set out in the all-in quote before you sign |
| Your Company Formations | Filing service £128 + VAT, plus £50 confirmation statement |
| Quality Company Formations | About £78 with VAT for both addresses, plus £50 confirmation statement |
| Companies MadeSimple | Tier renewal as shown at checkout, plus any Companies House fee not bundled |
| Direct with Companies House | £50 confirmation statement, plus £46 to £86 if you rent both addresses |
Add the accountant. A small UK limited company must file annual accounts and a corporation tax return, and almost no founder abroad does this alone. Market rates run from roughly £300 to £1,500 a year depending on activity. Corporation tax itself is 19% on profits under £50,000 and 25% above £250,000, with marginal relief in between.
Identity verification: The step that blindsides non-residents
Since 18 November 2025, every new director and person with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House before the company can be incorporated. Each verified person receives a personal code that links them to their company roles.
UK residents usually verify for free in minutes with the GOV.UK One Login app. Non-residents often cannot, because the app depends on documents it can read and check. The fallback is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, which verifies you as part of its service. Before you pay any agent, confirm two things: that verification is available for your documents, and whether it is included in the price or charged separately.
The bank account decides whether the company works
Incorporation takes a day. The bank account can take weeks. High street banks frequently require a UK-resident director or an in-person meeting, which rules out most founders abroad. Electronic money institutions such as Wise Business are the realistic first account for many non-residents, and providers with banking introductions speed up the application.
No formation agent can guarantee an account. Treat any package that promises one as a referral, not an outcome, and plan your first invoices around the account you can actually open.
Frequently asked questions
Can a non-resident own and run a UK limited company? Yes. There is no nationality or residency requirement for directors or shareholders, and at least one director must be a natural person aged 16 or over. You will need a UK registered office and identity verification.
How long does it take? Online applications are usually registered within 24 hours once identity verification is complete. Same-day digital incorporation is available directly from Companies House for £156.
Do I need to register for VAT? Only once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months, although some businesses register voluntarily to reclaim input VAT.
Is the cheapest agent the best choice? Only if you compare year two. A low entry price paired with automatic address renewals can cost more over three years than an all-in package.
Do I still need an accountant if I use an agent? Formation agents incorporate and maintain the register. Annual accounts and the corporation tax return are separate, and most providers sell them as an add-on or refer you to an accountant.
The verdict
For a founder who lives outside the UK, CorpSec is the strongest all-round choice: remote end-to-end setup, banking introductions, an all-in quote that includes year two, and the ability to run the UK company alongside entities in other countries. If the UK company is your only one and you want a UK specialist, Your Company Formations is the most complete non-resident bundle. For the lowest entry price, Quality Company Formations wins, provided you watch the renewals. Companies MadeSimple suits founders who want the state fee and ID checks inside one number.
Whichever you choose, do the same calculation first: take the £100 Companies House fee, add the address you cannot avoid, and read the year two line before you read the headline.