United Kingdom: Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

Choose a legal structure for your business
Private limited company by shares or Ltd: Number of partners: One or more directors
Capital (max/min): No minimum share capital requirements, typically the minimum subscribed is GBP 1. The entire capital must be unlocked.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.
Public limited company (Plc): Number of partners: One or more directors
Capital (max/min): Minimum share capital requirement is GBP 50,000 of which 25% must be paid-up
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.
General partnership: Number of partners: At least two partners
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital requirements
Shareholders and liability: Partners' liability is joint and indefinite.
Limited liability partnership (LLP) or Limited partnership (LP): Number of partners: At least two partners
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital requirements
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited.
Community interest company: Number of partners: No minimum
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital requirements
Shareholders and liability: Partners' liability is joint and several
Unlimited company ou Unltd: Number of partners: No minimum
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital requirements
Shareholders and liability: Partners' liability is joint and several

Setting Up a Company	United Kingdom	OECD
Procedures (number)	4.00	5.21
Time (days)	4.50	9.47

Source: The World Bank - Doing Business, Latest data available.

The Competent Organisation: Companies House
For Further Information: Consult the Doing Business website, to know about procedures to start a Business in United Kingdom.

Companies House - Register of British companies

Dun & Bradstreet - Worldwide directory with financial information on businesses

Bankruptcy Laws: The idea governing UK bankruptcy law is to give "honest" debtors a clean start by relieving them of the majority of their debts and enabling them to repay their creditors via the sale of any existing assets. More information on Clear start.

	2023	2024	2025
Labour Force	34,398,622	0	35,876,911

Opening Hours
Legal Weekly Duration: There is no specific number of hours that makes someone full or part-time, but a full-time worker will usually work 35 hours or more a week. (gov.co.uk)
Maximum Duration: The average working hours are calculated over a 17-week period. You can work more than 48 hours in one week as long as the average on this period is less than 48.
Night Hours: Under the Working Time Regulations, night time is described as the period between 11.00 pm and 6.00 am. You're considered as a night worker if you regularly work for at least three hours during this period. As a night worker, you shouldn't work more than an average of eight hours in each 24-hour period, (excluding overtime).

Working Rest Day: If you're an adult worker you usually have the right to 24 hours clear of work each week or 48 hours clear each fortnight.
Paid Annual Vacation: A salaried employee is entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks.
Retirement Age: 66 years old for both men and women. 67 years old for those born on or after April 1960, starting in May 2026.
Child Labour and Minimum Age For Employment: 13 for part time work. The website WorkSmart from the TUC shows that the type of work is restricted to light agricultural or horticultural work or as allowed by by-laws. Thus, the true minimum age for general work is 14 years. 16 is the minimum age for a full time work (if left school) and 18 for night work.

Minimum Wage: As of January 2026, the rate is £12.21 per hour for those aged 21 and over (National Living Wage), as the Department for Business and Trade has confirmed the next increase to £12.71 will not take effect until 1 April 2026.
Average Wage: The average monthly salary is £3,820.
Other Forms of Pay
Pay For Overtime: There's no legal right to pay for working extra hours, and there are no minimum statutory levels of overtime pay, although your average pay rate must not fall below the National Minimum Wage.
Pay For Night Hours: Your employer might decide to reward you for working antisocial hours (for example, you may get free transport, food or extra pay). You only have a legal right to any of these if your contract says you do, but it's good practice for employers to offer them.
Pay For Overtime at Night: If your night work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain, you can't be made to work more than eight hours in any 24-hour period. This includes overtime. More information on Direct.gov.uk.

The Areas Covered: National insurance (NI) covers pension, employment and support allowance, maternity allowance and bereavement benefits.
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: In general, national insurance contributions are taxed at 15.05% on all earnings in excess of £175 per week and are deductible for corporate income tax. For more details on thresholds, refer to the gov.uk website here. Information regarding social security arrangements between the UK and the UE is also available on the gov.uk website here.
Contributions Paid By the Employee: National insurance (NI) contribution is a withholding tax on payroll. Employees are classified as Class 1. In general, national insurance contributions are taxed at 13.25% if weekly pay is £190 to £967 and 3.25% if weekly pay is over £967. Class 1 contributors pay less if they are in a contracted out workplace pension, a married woman or a widow, or are deferring NI as they have more than one job. Information regarding social security arrangements between the UK and the UE is also available on the gov.uk website here.

Type of Contract: Legal clauses regulate employment contracts and to a lesser degree collective agreements and individual negotiations.

Labour Laws: Advice guide
UK government
Consult the Doing Business website, to obtain a summary of the labour regulations that apply to local entreprises.

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: Union membership has been relatively stable in the past few years, although the trend has been slightly downward over the past decade. About 20% of full time UK employees belong to a union, a low proportion by UK historical standards. Public sector workers have a much higher share of union members (60%) while the private sector is about 15%. Manufacturing, transport, and distribution trades are highly unionised. Unionisation of the workforce in the UK is prohibited only in the armed forces, public-sector security services, and police forces.

The following confederations can be listed : UNITE (British and Irish trade union), TUC ( TRADE UNION CONGRESS), STUC ( THE SCOTTISH TRADE UNION CONGRESS) and Wales TUC.
Unionisation Rate: 25.4% in 2014.
Labour Unions: TUC
Scotland TUC
Wales TUC
UNITE
Regulation Bodies: Department for Work and Pensions

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