Why Us | Start Business Services

It means we check with the bank compliance team before the licence is selected, not after. The trade licence determines which banks will open an account; the wrong licence locks you out of the ones you actually need.

Yes. We have agency agreements across the UAE freezones and the mainland. We’re not licence-locked to one freezone. IFZA Silicon Oasis is our usual go-to — it works best with the banks for most people, costs less, and runs well. If your activity or banking needs point to DMCC, DIFC, ADGM, JAFZA, RAKEZ or mainland Dubai, we set up there. The right answer depends on what the business actually does.

UK tax sits with our UK tax advisers. That covers Statutory Residence Test, the post-non-dom FIG regime, pre-departure capital gains, and ongoing UK filings. We don’t do standalone UK tax advice ourselves — that’s the UK tax adviser. We handle the UAE side and coordinate.

A single-shareholder UAE freezone trading company with one residency visa, the full setup, banking, and first year of accounting and renewals runs around AED 41,795 (approximately £8,700 / US$11,400). Extras — more visas, more complex shareholding, certain banking, multiple jurisdictions — move the number up or down. Pricing is confirmed in writing before any work starts.

Around 4 to 8 weeks from signed agreement to operational. The licence: 1 to 2 weeks. The residency visa: 2 to 4 weeks, in parallel. The bank account is the longest single step — 3 to 6 weeks depending on the bank, the activity, and how clean the paperwork is. Faster is possible; simple cases can complete in under 2 weeks. Most cases have some back-and-forth with the bank that we’d rather get right than rush.

People who are past the “is the UAE a good idea” stage and into “how do I do this properly.” Usually established business owners — running a UK Limited Company, an Australian Pty Ltd, or a European structure — setting up the UAE side as part of a longer-term move. Typical revenue is £250k to £20m. Common industries: professional services, e-commerce, technology, real estate, consulting.

Yes. The UK is one specialism, not a restriction. We regularly set up UAE companies for Australian, Irish, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, South African and Asian clients. For UK clients we work alongside our UK tax advisers. For other countries we coordinate with your existing tax adviser at home. The UAE side — setup, banking, residency, ongoing accounting — runs the same way regardless of where you’re moving from.

We don’t take on: cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms (outside our specialism); regulated financial services that require DFSA or FSRA licensing (we refer); cannabis or CBD businesses; high-risk gaming or gambling; any business where the source of funds can’t be properly documented; and any case where the substance and compliance requirements of a real UAE setup aren’t something the client wants to engage with. We turn away around 1 in 5 enquiries — usually because the fit isn’t right, not because the activity is wrong.

Annual licence renewals, visa renewals, audited annual return where required, corporate tax registration and returns, VAT registration and returns where the threshold is crossed, UBO declarations, AML, and any changes to ownership or activity. Most clients use us for setup and ongoing together.

Often yes, depending on the freezones involved and the activity. Some freezones allow direct migration; others need the company wound up and a new one formed, with assets and contracts moved across. We see this most often with clients who set up cheaply in a northern emirates freezone, ran into banking problems, and need to move to a Dubai-based freezone (usually IFZA or DMCC) to fix the banking. The migration itself is usually 2 to 4 weeks. The harder work is unwinding the accounts, contracts and visas at the old freezone.

It depends on why. Banks reject for a lot of reasons: incomplete documents, source of funds, the sector (some banks won’t touch certain industries), nationality, insufficient substance in the UAE (no real office, no real local activity), or sometimes no clear reason. We get the actual reason from the bank and address it. That might mean re-applying with more documentation, applying to a different bank with a different appetite for that activity, or restructuring the application.

Not in-house. For Australian and European clients we coordinate with your existing tax adviser at home. If you don’t have one, we refer to a specialist we’ve worked with before in your country. We handle the UAE side directly.

Confirmed in writing before any work starts. The proposal sets out the full fee, what’s included, and what isn’t. If anything changes after signing, we agree the new number before doing the work.

Yes, within reason. Most of our clients are happy to speak briefly with someone in a similar situation. Some aren’t — their time and confidentiality are theirs to give. Ask in the initial conversation and we’ll arrange one where we can.