Tide Company Formation: Overview, Key Features and an Alternative

If you’re an entrepreneur in the UK you may be wondering about how to set up your business and formally incorporate a UK company before you start to trade.

Incorporating a company is the official process of registering your business as an entity separate to yourself as an individual - and usually one of the very first steps you’ll take on your journey as an entrepreneur.

To make life easier, companies like Tide offer company formation services which help to walk you through all that’s needed, from registering your business to opening a business account. This Tide company formation review covers how it works - and also touches on Wise company formation as an alternative for comparison.

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What is Tide company formation¹?

So - how do you use Tide to set up a company?

You’ll be able to use Tide to register a company, set up a virtual office, and get a business account up and running - all online, and often in just a few hours.

Tide is a Companies House authorised formation agent which means you’ll just need to use their tools to check your business name is available, enter your personal details, and get your company registered securely. We’ll walk through the steps you need to take in a moment.

There’s no fee when you set up a Tide limited company, and you’ll also automatically be offered a Tide business account as long as you’re eligible for the service.

Tide business accounts don’t have ongoing or maintenance charges, but there are transaction fees to pay. Plus, if you use other services from Tide - such as their virtual office service, you may find there are additional costs.

Tide virtual office

To register a business in the UK you’ll need an address. You can choose to use your own UK residential address for this, but many people prefer to use a virtual office. There’s a Tide virtual office^² service which you can choose to add on when you use the Tide company formation service, which means you can instantly use a central London address for your business, and get helpful services like mail forwarding.

People choose to use a virtual office address to keep their own residential address private. It’s also handy because it can remain the same even if you move home, so there’s less paperwork to worry about if you travel or relocate in the UK. However, there are fees to pay to get a virtual office.

The Tide virtual office fee isn’t available online, but it’s useful to note that in a Tide business education blog, the average cost quoted for virtual office services is 20 GBP to 70 GBP a month^³, depending on the provider you use.

How to register a company with Tide?

To create a Tide limited company you’ll need thee following:

• A unique company name - Tide has a handy tool you can use to check your preferred name is available
• An address - you can use your home, or a virtual office like the Tide virtual office if you’d prefer
• Director and shareholder information - including name, nationality, date of birth, occupation and address

You can only register one director with Tide, but you may be able to add in more directors or shareholders once your company is set up, if you need to.

The step by step Tide company formation process is pretty straightforward¹:

1. Gather all the information needed
2. Open the Tide desktop site
3. Use the Tide tool to check your company name is available
4. Tap the register a company button
5. Add the details needed following the onscreen prompts
6. Receive your company formation certificate - often within hours

You’ll also get a Tide business account at the same time so you can start to transact.

Tide company formation review

Tide isn’t the only option out there if you want to set up your own UK business. You can choose to create your UK company yourself without an intermediary service, or pick an alternative - we’ll look at one option from Wise in just a moment.

To help you decide if Tide company formation is right for you, here are a few pros and cons to consider:

Key features:

• No upfront fee from Tide to register your business
• Get a business account and a trial of accounting software for free
• Access to Tide member perks, discounts and bonuses
• Tide also has a whole suite of connected services like virtual office, expense cards and accounting integrations

Considerations:

• You can only register one director or shareholder with Tide
• Some services have fees - such as using a Tide virtual office
• Tide business accounts have transaction fees to pay⁵, and higher tier accounts have monthly fees⁶
• Tide business accounts don’t support international payments or multi-currency balances

Wise Business - Setting up a limited company in the UK

For a low one time fee, the Wise company formation process lets you register a business in the UK and get all the tools you need to manage your international business finances all in one go.

Set up your single shareholder company with Wise online in just a few simple steps. You’ll also be able to open a multi-currency account with Wise Business which lets you hold and exchange 40+ currencies, send money to suppliers, contractors and staff in 160+ countries, and get paid with local bank details in up to 9 currencies. That’s perfect for any business that has global aspirations.

Wise Business account have no ongoing fees, no minimum account balance requirements and no hidden costs so you’ll be able to simply use your account as you need to without unnecessary charges.

💡Learn more about Wise Business

Pricing/fees: Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

Setting up your UK business is an exciting thing - but you’ll be busy, and with so much going on, using an agent to help you through the process can be an attractive option. Use this guide to Tide company formation to see if their services are right for you - and don’t forget to also compare your options from Wise Business, for company formation and a powerful international business account all from the same place.

*Disclaimer: The UK Wise Business pricing structure is changing with effect from 26/11/2025 date. Receiving money, direct debits and getting paid features are not available with the Essential Plan which you can open for free. Pay a one-time set up fee of £50 to unlock Advanced features including account details to receive payments in 22+ currencies or 8+ currencies for non-swift payments. You’ll also get access to our invoice generating tool, payment links, QuickPay QR codes and the ability to set up direct debits all within one account. Please check our website for the latest pricing information.

Sources used in this article:

Sources last checked October 27, 2023