The procedure for establishing a UK subsidiary can take as little as a few hours to several weeks, depending on the complexity of your business. You’ll need to submit an application form and several important documents to Companies House, including Articles of Association, Company Charter, and a full set of accounts -among other documentation. All documents need to be notarized by a lawyer, and if they are in a language other than English, they will need to be translated into English by a certified translator.
After the UK subsidiary is set up, it will be required to give yearly accounts to Companies House and may have to go through an annual audit. The amount of times the company is audited usually depends on the size and profile of the overseas company. The subsidiary will also have to sign up for corporation tax and possibly VAT (Value Added Tax) and UK payroll tax.
In most cases, the fastest and safest way (from a compliance perspective) to get operations started in the UK is to hire your first few employees with a global EOR like Horizons.