UK business bank account

[Sgran]

Our small company needs to open a bank account in the UK in order to make a contract with a ferry company. My colleague has researched 7 or 8 banks, and they all want a huge opening deposit. Does anyone know any sterling based UK bank accounts without onorous deposit requirements? Any leads or contacts welcome.

[Marc Vaughan]

The deposit is probably because you're a foreign company and they simply want a safety net in case you disappear having written a bunch of cheques or whatever.

What are you planning on using it for? - as I'd have thought that most things you could do without one; I've dealt with foreign companies professionally frequently without needing a foreign bank account (indeed having one in some cases might complicate things from a tax perspective).

PS - Feel free to PM me if you prefer ..

[Sgran]

thanks, Marc. It's as simple as I stated in my post: we need to make a contract with a ferry company that crosses the channel and they want a UK bank account.

[Marc Vaughan]

Might be worth checking if your present bank has a UK arm / subsiduary (or indeed is vice versa owned by a foreign bank) as that might help with regards to whether they'd want a deposit.

(which bank do you use presently?)