Creating a Business Presence in the UK: A Helpful Guide

So, you run a business and now want to target the UK market. But how do you expand your business into the UK? How will you assure local customers that you understand their needs? Keep reading to see how you can build a business presence in the UK while establishing trust with your UK audience.

Buy a UK Business Address

If you are going to engage UK customers, you need to have the appearance of a legitimate business. One step towards achieving this is obtaining a UK business address. Now, we’re not talking about purchasing an office and hiring UK staff but there are ways to create the impression of this. In the eyes of UK customers, if your business has a UK address, then it operates from the UK. Or at the very least has UK-based offices. You have some options available to consider: PO Box – This is by far the most cost-effective option. You can set up a PO Box in any UK town or city via the Post Office. You can also go to private companies like FedEx. Although it doesn’t come without drawbacks, as some companies simply won’t deliver to PO Boxes and some private mail handlers refuse mail from their competitors. Virtual Mail – There is a monthly fee to set up this service and it allows all your post to be delivered to the one address. Upon delivery, someone on the other end will scan and forward it over to you digitally. They can also shred or repost it to you. The downside to this service though is that some virtual mail services use a PO Box which leaves you with the same issues as above. Street Address – While this may be the most expensive of the 3 options, it is the best for building a legitimate presence. You can purchase an address in some of the largest commercial centres so that it offers the appearance of a prestigious address.

Add a UK Domain

Purchasing a UK domain for your website will reassure customers that your product or service is available in their country. Not only that, but it builds trust and lets your customers know that you care about them by building a website just for them. An alternative to this is creating a UK subsite for your international domain. This can be achieved by using IP address information. When someone visits your website, it will recognise their location and will auto redirect them to a localised version of the site.

Update Content for Your Website & Social Media

The way you communicate with your UK audience is vital. Populate your business website with relevant content from the UK and avoid any sensitive topics to generate interest. The key here is creating content in such a way where your UK audience thinks you have been operating in the UK for years. To do this, you need to update all content to UK English spellings and use phrases that UK customers will resonate with.

Join a UK Call Answering Service

In order to provide your services or sell products in the UK, you need to have a UK phone number. This is a vital step in targeting the UK audience and allowing them to reach you. If you are targeting a specific region in the UK, you should also consider purchasing a local area code phone number. When expanding business into the UK, you need to understand that your business will be part of the community. A solution to this is joining a UK-based call answering service, who can communicate with your customers in the way they expect. A call answering service will answer your calls with your chosen greeting and follow your specific call handling instructions, including: