Opening a bank account when the sole director is a non-UK resident

With only one director, that person is also the sole point of control and the sole person with significant control in most cases, concentrating all the KYC and source-of-funds questions on one individual with no UK residence to anchor the relationship, which some banks' risk models simply will not accept.

Some providers ask sole non-resident directors for more supporting evidence than they would ask a multi-director company, such as a business plan, a letter from an accountant confirming the company's purpose, or references from existing suppliers.

Trying two or three EMI providers before assuming the structure is unbankable is normal; approval criteria differ meaningfully between them even for identical applications. A UK-based accountant confirming the registered office, filings and business activity can also strengthen an application.

Adding a second, UK resident director purely to ease banking is a real option but changes governance and can affect where the company is treated as centrally managed, so take advice before doing it for banking convenience alone.

Our fixed monthly packages for a UK limited company start at £89 plus VAT and run to £169 and £289 plus VAT as bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and reporting are added. One-off filings are sold at fixed prices, and the Companies House fees we pay for you are charged at cost with no VAT added. Overseas owners are quoted on exactly the same published prices as UK-resident clients.

Rates, thresholds and deadlines here reflect the 2026/27 UK position and current Companies House and HMRC guidance. Check GOV.UK, or ask us, before relying on them for your own company.