The UK economy is the fourth largest in the world and the second largest in Europe. You will find that the way we are structured as an economy, makes doing business in the UK very easy.

 

A nation of small businesses

This is partly because the UK is a nation of small businesses, and has one of the highest numbers of self-employed people in the world, thanks to changes that were made here during the 1980s, which have seen us transform from a manufacturing into a service based economy.

 

About 3.4 million Brits (12%) are officially self-employed, a figure that is expected to rise to over 10 million by 2011. There are lots of family businesses, and you will find that most Brits, when asked what they would like to be in the future, will reply “be my own boss.” This unfortunately leads to lots of failed businesses, with around 75% of all of them closing down within 7 years.

 
But, with the exception of the USA, you will not find a more fluid and flexible business environment. Setting up your own company is made easy by the absence of ‘red tape’ (excessive bureaucracy), and laws surrounding employing people tend to favour companies, making it easier to hire and fire people than in most other parts of Europe. People who have their own businesses in the UK also pay less tax than those who are employed.

Because of the service based nature of the economy, we have a sophisticated business community that includes a lot of the UK workforce. We are comfortable conducting meetings, building relationships and pitching ideas. When meeting people for the first time, remember that they will be judging you on more than just your ideas, they will also judge your professionalism and your presentation.

 

Busines online

Most UK business people nowadays will also expect companies that they are dealing with to have a presence on the internet - a good website. You can almost guarantee that if someone is meeting you, they would have looked you up on Google first - it’s called being googled.  

If you plan to start your own business, call the tax office (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) and tell them that you are going to be self-employed. You will need a National Insurance number and you should seek advice from an accountant. If you are setting up a larger company and might be employing people, you may want to set up a limited company (through Companies House) for tax reasons, but you will definitely need an accountant in this case.

 

Business culture

The culture of the UK business person is different from industry to industry, but you should expect everyone to be smartly dressed, exchange business cards at the start of the meeting and remain quite formal throughout. Once you get to know people they become more relaxed, but if you are too familiar with them at first, you might find that they become a bit cold towards you.

There are lots of people coming to the UK for business every year. Whether to find customers for their own companies or to set up a new one in the UK, you will find the British business community to be open, competitive and fair, it is this ethos keeps our tiny island doing so well.

By John Hillman

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USEFUL WORDS

Buying and Selling

Supermarkets sometimes sell an item very cheaply just so that they attract a lot of people into a shop where they will also buy more profitable items – the item being sold very cheaply is called a loss leader.

If a company finds a niche market, it finds a specialist, small group of customers with particular needs that the company can meet.

People sometimes make a purchasing decision based on brand loyalty – confidence in that particular make means they tend to always choose it.

If you shop around, you try different companies or shops to see which offers best value.

If you buy something on approval, you have the right to return it if it is not satisfactory.

If you have first refusal on something, the seller promises that you will be asked if you would like to buy it first, and only if you do not want it will it be offered for sale to others.

If any item is said to come/go under the hammer, it is sold at an auction.

USEFUL PHRASES

Talking about a Company
Questions
What does your company do?
What line are you in?
What does that involve?

Answers

… is our core business
My department’s in charge of…
That’s my speciality
I work in other areas, too
We aim to help companies
We try and come up with solutions
We try to develop a plan based on the existing situation
Our strategy is to…
I deal with a wide range of organisations
We provide a service tailored to the client
We offer a complete package

Explaining things

We want to keep you in the picture
I’ve been asked to update you
I want to keep everyone up-to-date
I’d like to keep you informed
I’ve been told that it’s still under discussion
I can reassure you that…
There has been a new development regarding…
Just to give you an idea…
As far as I know…