Sourced guides to doing business in each market, and the status of every service there. Partners are in place in 35 markets so far.
One WONE Global Partner for each service in each market. Start from what you need to do, or go straight to a service.
Describe what you need. WONE Global names the service and the professional before any work begins.
Bring a requirement →Licences, value chains and the questions businesses in each industry ask first, with the services that usually apply.
What one country changes for the other, worked journeys step by step, and who handles each side.
When cross-border business becomes a dispute, UNIONE™, also part of the UNBOUNDED™ Global Ecosystem, prevents it, resolves it, arbitrates it and plans enforcement. 334 Fellows in 58 countries.
41 jurisdictions, each with primary sources and the date last checked.
Named senior professionals, each admitted as the one firm for a service in their country, and the firms they lead.
One Partner per service, per jurisdiction, admitted by review against published criteria.
Every statement is labelled: source-checked, professionally reviewed or not yet checked, with its source and date where checked.
Answers cite WONE Global's sourced statements and show how each one was checked. Research, not advice.
Accomplished regional specialists and international cross-border intelligence, across 100 countries, with one contact and one published Standard.
Business corridor
UAE ↔ United Kingdom is a cross-border business corridor involving market access, investment, finance, people, contracts, trade and professional support across both markets. WONE Global coordinates the work in both countries, so one team keeps it joined up.
Dubai · Tuesday 3 November
22:52
Local time
Shared working hours
—
London · Tuesday 3 November
18:52
Local time
Worked example
A step-by-step example of a common project between the UAE and the United Kingdom: the rules in each country, the usual structures and the questions to ask your advisers.
How the work runs on both sides
What has to happen in each country, in what order, and what one side changes for the other, with the sources for each step.
Key questions
Typical work
Tax, legal, people and money questions on one side change the answer on the other. WONE Global plans the work in both countries together before anything starts.
Partner firms
Named WONE Global leads where they exist; everything else arranged by WONE Global on request, with the name confirmed before work begins.
WONE Global Partners
Dubai · United Arab EmiratesWONE Global Partner · United Arab Emirates
Armed with two decades of rich experience spanning across diverse industries and verticals, I have garnered the trust and admiration of many valued relationships. Audit & Assurance, Consulting, Risk Advisory and Tax pra…
Dubai · United Arab EmiratesWONE Global Partner · United Arab Emirates
Dr Hajra Nazir is qualified Professional Doctorate (PD) in Business Advisory & Compliance with prestigious organizations in the field of Corporate Advisory, Business Administration, Law, Commerce, Applied Economics etc.…
Cases
Cases whose typical case involves one or both sides of the corridor, each with how WONE Global handles it and who handles it in each market.
Scenarios
Worked scenarios involving either side of the corridor: the client, where it comes from, what it ran into and how WONE Global handles it.
Worked scenarios
Scenarios are representative of the work WONE Global coordinates, not specific client matters.
What the guides say
The essentials of each market on the topics that decide how work between them is set up.
Full guide
Full guide
| Topic | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Establish & Structure | Foreign investors choose between a mainland company licensed by an emirate, a free zone entity licensed by a free zone authority, or a company in the DIFC or ADGM financial free zones. Read more | The UK has no general foreign-ownership restriction or investment licence: most foreign businesses incorporate a private limited company at Companies House or register a UK establishment of their overseas company. Read more |
| Tax & Statutory | Corporate tax is federal and applies in every emirate at 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, with a 0% rate on qualifying income for Qualifying Free Zone Persons and a 15% top-up tax for multinational groups with revenue of EUR 750 million or more. Read more | UK companies and UK branches of foreign companies pay corporation tax at 25% on profits above £250,000, with a 19% small profits rate and marginal relief in between. Read more |
| People, Payroll & Mobility | Mainland employment is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, which requires fixed-term contracts, caps probation at six months and sets end-of-service gratuity for foreign staff. Read more | UK employers run PAYE payroll, pay 15% employer National Insurance above £5,000 a year, auto-enrol eligible staff into a pension and pay at least the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour. Read more |
| Banking, Treasury & Payments | The dirham is pegged to the US dollar, which the Central Bank of the UAE defends by buying and selling dirhams at 3.673 and 3.672, and keeping that peg is the central bank's main monetary objective. Read more | Opening a UK business bank account turns on anti-money laundering checks: banks must verify the company, its directors and its beneficial owners, and check the PSC register. Read more |
| Trade, Customs & Supply Chain | The UAE applies the GCC common customs regime. Most imports pay duty of 5% of the CIF value, with 50% on alcohol and 100% on tobacco, and valuation follows the GCC Common Customs Law. Read more | The UK has its own customs territory and applies the UK Global Tariff unless a trade agreement preference applies; its agreements include the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, CPTPP and, since 2026, a UK-India agreement. Read more |
| Disputes, Enforcement & Exit | Onshore, the UAE has federal courts and separate emirate-level judicial bodies such as Dubai Courts and the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, all applying the federal Civil Procedure Code. Read more | The UK has three separate legal systems: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Most international commercial litigation in England goes to the Business and Property Courts, including the Commercial Court, and arbitration seated in England, Wales… Read more |
Our full guides are checked against official sources. Guides drafted with AI are marked as such. None of this is legal or tax advice.
WONE Global Intelligence
Ask in your own words. Answers come from WONE Global's checked records, with every source shown, and end with the named Partner who can act. Go deeper on any point, or build a decision file.
Contact WONE Global
UNBOUNDED™ · Global Business Circuit™
Bring a live question about this corridor to a small online session of senior business leaders, run by UNBOUNDED™, the ecosystem WONE Global belongs to.
The Global Business Circuit™
One corridor, 60 minutes online, 12 senior business leaders. The leaders' own questions set the agenda; market and professional perspectives join only where the questions call for them.
Sessions involving these markets
No session on this exact corridor is scheduled in the coming weeks. The calendar rolls forward continuously.
WONE Global is one of the six institutions of the UNBOUNDED™ Global Ecosystem. Links open unboundedglobal.com. WONE Global in the ecosystem
WONE Global Partners
Named professionals connected to this page — each admitted as the specialist for one kind of work in their country, at a firm WONE Global has admitted.
Dubai · United Arab EmiratesWONE Global Partner · United Arab Emirates
Qualified accounts professional with progressive years of experience in the field of accounting, finalization, budgeting, forecasting, business analysis, cash flow management, together good knowledge of auditing and fin…
Dubai · United Arab EmiratesWONE Global Partner · United Arab Emirates
Comprehensive experience in directing and controlling activities including strategic planning, feasibility studies restructuring and turnaround of Business activities, evaluating Business proposals, etc Experience in se…
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