Expanding into Europe brings a plethora of business opportunities for growth and innovation. Free movement of goods, services, and people with an aim towards consistency of laws makes expanding into and across Europe as unified as possible. It is important however to also keep in mind the legal requirements of setting up your business in Europe, and most importantly the right time for implementing.
Company Structure
One of the biggest and the most important considerations when expanding into Europe is the way in which you operate your European business arm from a legal standpoint. You have a number of options available to you.
Option 1: Subsidiary Registered Business/Office. This is a new Companies House Registered Company and office based in the country you are planning to trade within. It will be subject to the local laws of that country including taxation, employment law etc.
Option 2: Acquisition. By purchasing the whole or majority shareholding in an existing established registered company of the country you are planning to trade in, you can develop a ‘footholding’ to do business in that country.
Option 3: Merge. Merging with another company, already registered and established in your chosen European country means you can trade freely in that country without needing to set up a new Registered Company.
Permits and Licences
With certain products and services, a permit or license to trade needs to be obtained from the Foreign Office of the country you wish to trade within.
International Payments
To transfer money from your European trading arm to your HQ in North America or overseas, it may be required to set up International Payments to facilitate this.
Intellectual Property
If your product or service requires protection from other people stealing copying your name, trademark, invention, design, or copyright, then you may need Intellectual Property protection in place in the country you plan on trading within.
Data Protection and GDPR
If the UK is your chosen European destination, you will need to comply with local Data Protection and GDPR laws within your website, details held about distributors, partners and customers, and data held on any system with European consumer information.
Employment Law
If you require staff at your offices overseas to handle warehousing, distribution, order fulfilment, business development and general day to day running of your European office, then you have two options to consider, hire employees overseas in your target country, or hire an agency.
Hiring staff overseas will mean you are liable to comply with European Employment Law and put in place various procedures to comply with the law.
Hiring an agency does not require the same level of compliance as hiring overseas employees and can make opening a European office efficient and risk-free. At Bridgehead International Agency Ltd, we specialise in providing ambitious businesses with the knowledge and experience of how to expand overseas, and we put in the ‘on the ground leg work’ to help make it a success. We are the leading European Market Penetration Service with a 90-day quantifiable return on investment, guaranteed. Our extensive research and go-to-market strategy is executed by our own team, applying full legal legislation and governmental policies according to each country.
As you have read from this post, there are a number of legal considerations you need to be aware of and put into place when expanding into Europe, and for the expansion to be a success, you need to get it right from the start. We help businesses just like you navigate this exciting journey every day at Bridgehead International Agency Ltd, and we’d love to help you achieve your goal of a successful overseas operation. To enquire about how we can help your business expand into Europe, get in touch today.
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Information on Legal Requirements of Setting Up Business In Europe sourced from:
- https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/expanding-european-union-existing-company
- https://www.fieldfisher.com/media/1827475/Doing-Business-in-Europe.pdf
- https://www.harperandmay.co.uk/blog/2017/9/2/how-do-you-go-about-expanding-your-business-into-europe
- https://www.gov.uk/intellectual-property-an-overview
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