Hi, I am an independent fetish video producer (non nudity, very mild). I am earning around £75-£79k gross pa. I was advised to go limited. I did then quickly learned that most Uk banks will not give business bank accounts to adult industries. So I am completely stuck. Do I have to write off my ltd co before it’s even begun? Then remain as a sole trader. Can anyone suggest a way around this.
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Have you tried the online ones like Cashplus Business, Tide, Acorn etc etc?
Which ones have you tried so far and been knocked back?
Can you be a little more vague or generic about the industry you work in when you apply, without actually telling untruths?
Great points Sheepy.
Tide is good for opening a Limited Company Bank account at May 2022 anyway.
I mean unless your Ltd company name is blatantly obvious what you do, I can't see an issue. I mean barclays will open bank accounts for Ltd companies pretty much straight away.
Ive got a client who works in the adult industry and they describe themselves as an entertainer or a model and got a bank account no problem.
As mentioned above unless your Ltd Co name is obvious then Im sure your business description will be fine as video producer?
you should be able to get an account with more modern thinking banks (Metro or Tide for example). Otherwise, although not ideal, you could use your own personal account purely for business purposes and put a declaration of Trust and minutes in place explaining the issue and why a personal account is being used for a company. You could run into issues with suppliers and customers with the work around though.
Just say you are a film maker.
Ensure the SIC code with Companies House is suitable vague too.
Are you sure it's not you they object to ?
Is there anything in your background/reputation they could take exception to ?
Id suggest you go elsewhere then! I know for a fact all some banks care about is company name and number, brief description of business activity and expected turnover.
Banking is still to a degree based on mutual trust and after reading your further information I suspect that's why they declined you . They didn't like your prevarication
I applied online for a company bank account with Santander for a side company I set up. It was accepted immediately without having to answer any questions.
if I were you, I'd be applying online. I’d guarantee that you'll be able to open an account without any problems.
As the contributor above said, you could make do with a personal account, there's no law that says a company has to have its own company bank account, but it doesn't look very professional to customers / suppliers.
Try harder and you'll succeed
Yes; I agree re the personal account option and where on earth is Tax Dragon to tell us all that that is fraud etc?
I applied online for a company bank account with Santander for a side company I set up. It was accepted immediately without having to answer any questions.
if I were you, I'd be applying online. I’d guarantee that you'll be able to open an account without any problems.
As the contributor above said, you could make do with a personal account, there's no law that says a company has to have its own company bank account, but it doesn't look very professional to customers / suppliers.
Try harder and you'll succeed
Except it will be in the bank's terms and conditions that personal bank accounts should not be used for business purposes. As soon as they notice transactions not of a personal nature, they will most likely close the account. And the OP will be back to square one.