I have always wanted to make my parents proud. That’s why, when I got an opportunity to develop our family business in the UK where I studied at that time, I was very happy. It was a chance for me to secure my future here. I had already had some business ideas but lacked an understanding of how to set up and run a UK company. I knew nothing about British accounting and documentation. For that reason, I decided to contact Imperial & Legal’s professionals.
Pedro is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. His parents own several shopping malls, a chain of gyms, and a few large warehouses in their home city. They wanted their son to be as successful as they were. Everything starts with education so they sent him to the United Kingdom, famous for its high-quality education system.
Pedro received an MBA from London Business School. After several years of stay in the UK, he got used to living in a foreign country, met his girlfriend, and drafted four business ideas that had all the chances of bringing a good profit. All those led to Pedro’s decision to continue living in the UK.
Pedro’s parents supported his choice and promised to make an initial investment in his business. When his UK Student visa was about to expire, several immigration routes were considered to prolong his stay in the country. The young man could apply for either a UK Start-up visa or a UK Sole Representative visa (provided that he would set up a UK subsidiary of his parents’ company).
A UK Spouse visa did not suit our client. He loved his girlfriend and wanted to marry her, but he wanted to propose as a successful entrepreneur whom he planned to become and not as an immigrant who needed a permit to live in the UK.
After consultation with Imperial & Legal’s specialists, a UK Sole Representative visa was chosen. That visa category would simplify the registration of a new company and obtaining a residence permit for Pedro. However, at the same time, it imposed restrictions on the type of the company’s activity: a UK subsidiary had to operate in the same area as its parent company. For Pedro, it was not a problem since thanks to his parents, he was skilled at property management. His degree at a London university and internships in local British companies allowed him to master the European approach to business development and better understand the UK market.
Pedro’s market research showed that it was not easy to manage large real estate. Not all the owners of commercial property (for example, skyscrapers where offices of banks and large companies are located) know how to receive the maximum profit or simply do not have time to think about it. It only seems easy to get passive income. In reality, it is much more complicated than placing an advertisement somewhere and renting your property out.
To maximise profit, you need to select your leaseholders carefully keeping in mind that their reputation can then increase the value of your property. You also need to know how to advertise your property, communicate with various stakeholders, etc. Pedro’s company offers to do all these for you.
Pedro compiled a list of potential clients and started to send them commercial offers. As a result, he found his first jobs – a small office, an underground parking lot, and several retail outlets. That was not ideal but good for a start. Even with such low-cost properties, Pedro could demonstrate his good management skills and prove that he would be able to work with more prestigious real estate. He was ready to do his best to make a name for himself.
Pedro wanted to focus on the services his company would provide and not on taxation. He planned to outsource that activity to a company that specialised in accounting. Having researched the market, Pedro chose Imperial & Legal for our good reputation, extensive expertise, and a lot of positive feedback.
Pedro, head of the property management subsidiary of a Brazilian company.
To prepare financial accounts for the HMRC.
Each British company that sells goods or services must pay a value-added tax, or VAT. Imperial & Legal’s accountants registered Pedro’s subsidiary for VAT and agreed with the client that they would prepare quarterly VAT reports for the HMRC to support him.
It was also necessary to hire staff. Pedro obviously could not do everything on his own. At first, he had to work alone. But later, he planned to concentrate on developing strategies and tactics leaving their implementation to his employees. He had already employed two sales managers, an administrator, and an advertising manager. Imperial & Legal’s team helped him prepare all the required documents and calculate monthly salaries for employees.
Besides, Pedro asked to support his company in the annual financial reporting that Imperial & Legal would perform at the end of each financial year.
Unfortunately, a standard service package does not always suit our clients. However, Imperial & Legal always makes the client’s needs its priority and develops customised packages based on individual requests.
Since Pedro was just starting and did not have a stable income to pay for accounting services in a single payment, we decided that the company could pay for our work on a monthly basis –a kind of subscription fee. This would make the payments affordable, but at the same time allow Pedro to get our accounting support, consultations, and help with the calculation of salaries, VAT, and preparation of tax returns.
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