Most early-stage business support in the UK is free and publicly funded. Here is what exists, who runs it, and the narrow list of things genuinely worth paying for.
Founders routinely pay for things that are free, and skip free things that would have saved them months. The list below is the support that actually exists, who runs it, and what it costs — with every link checked rather than assumed.
We have an obvious interest in you hiring an accountant. That does not extend to pretending the rest of this does not exist.
| Where you are | Who to go to | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| England | Growth Hub Finder | A local network of free advisers, workshops and grant signposting. Quality varies by area; the good ones are excellent. |
| Northern Ireland | Invest NI | Advice, programmes and funding. Worth knowing several UK-wide tax schemes treat NI companies differently. |
| Scotland | Business Gateway | Free local advisers, workshops and start-up guidance. Scottish Enterprise is the route once you are scaling. |
| Wales | Business Wales | Free advice, planning tools and funding signposts. |
Your local hub is also the most reliable route to regional grants, which are rarely advertised anywhere a search engine will find them.
| Obligation | Who | What you need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Register a company | Companies House | £100 online, usually within 24 hours. £124 and 8–10 days on paper. |
| Verify your identity | Companies House | Every director and PSC. Your confirmation statement is rejected until they have. |
| Corporation tax | HMRC | Register within 3 months of starting to trade. Payment is due before the return is. |
| VAT | HMRC | Mandatory once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any rolling 12 months. |
| Employing someone | HMRC | You cannot register for PAYE more than two months before the first payday. |
| Workplace pension | The Pensions Regulator | Duties start the day your first employee starts. Declaration of compliance within five months. |
| Data protection fee | ICO | A legal requirement for most businesses handling personal data. Tiered by size, cheaper by direct debit. |
| Employment law | ACAS | Free and impartial. Ask before you act — employment mistakes are expensive and largely irreversible. |
| Trade marks | IPO | £205 for one class, £60 per extra class. Do it before you print anything with the name on it. |
Three things are genuinely worth paying for early, and the rest can usually wait.
An accountant, for anything with a filing deadline or a tax consequence — and for the judgement calls that are expensive to unwind, like share structure and how you pay yourself. Ours is quoted in about two minutes, and every specialist price is published rather than quoted on request.
A solicitor, for your shareholders—’ agreement and any contract that carries real risk. Template documents are fine for the ordinary things and a false economy for the round that matters.
Insurance, including employers—’ liability the moment you have a first employee, which is a legal requirement rather than a judgement call.
What is usually not worth paying for at the start: business plan writing services, most —“grant finding—” subscriptions, and anyone charging a percentage of a tax relief you were entitled to anyway.
Most of it. Start Up Loans mentoring, the growth hub network in England, Invest NI, Business Gateway in Scotland and Business Wales are all free at the point of use and funded to help you. So is ACAS on employment questions and the Pensions Regulator on auto-enrolment duties. The things that cost money are named as such below. Nobody should be charging you for a signpost.
England is covered by a network of local growth hubs offering free business support, funded through government and local partners. Quality varies by area, but the good ones are genuinely useful for grants you would never find, local networks and one-to-one adviser time. Find yours through the Growth Hub Finder linked above; the equivalents elsewhere are Invest NI, Business Gateway and Business Wales.
ACAS, and ask before you act rather than after. Their advice is free, impartial and covers contracts, the statement of employment particulars due on or before day one, redundancy, disciplinary process and disputes. An hour with their guidance before your first hire saves considerably more than it costs, because employment mistakes are expensive and largely irreversible.
Most businesses that handle personal data do, and it is a legal requirement rather than a nicety. The fee is modest and tiered by size. If you hold customer records, run a mailing list or process staff data, assume you are in scope and check on the ICO's own site rather than guessing.
We do the things that carry a legal filing deadline or a tax consequence, and we tell you honestly when the answer is somewhere on this page instead. A great deal of what founders pay advisers for early on is available free from the organisations above, and saying so costs us nothing we should have been charging for.
