The Groundwork: Hiring, Language, and Legal

Can You Sell Into the UK Remotely?

Not as your whole strategy.

You can handle some work remotely, but someone needs to be on the ground meeting partners, going to events, and building the brand. Not an entire sales team, but still someone (learn who below).

“For me, I’m not seeing a company selling in the UK from overseas that’s really succeeding.” – Baptiste Petelle, VP Growth @ Fleet

Fleet took an interesting approach to placing talent, but also learned what can happen when a local presence goes away.

After several years running teams in individual European markets, the company pulled them into a central hub in Barcelona. The UK had only had 2 years of groundwork, and the team later found it had leaned too heavily on outbound and search, and not enough on the ground.

Who Should Your First UK Hire Be?

The best hire is someone local and versatile. But not before you’re ready.

Mollie’s mistake from Lesson 3 is the main one to avoid: a full sales team hired before the product was ready for market. It’s safer to validate fit first, then hire.

When you are ready, look for a “Swiss army knife”: someone who can cover sales, partnerships, events, and brand at once. Then, look to specialize with more hires after the first 6 to 12 months.

Hire locally where you can, too. For example, Inpulse chose a London-based first hire specifically because that person would know the market and the sales culture.

Note: For a French perspective, employer National Insurance is around 15% – lower than in France, but UK salaries are higher. So total employment costs can land in a similar place.

What Does a UK Hire Change Inside Your Company?

More than many teams plan for, so learn from others’ missteps wherever you can.

When Inpulse made its first hire in the UK, BDM Laure Joyeux realized the company had 2 weeks to adopt English as its operating language. Every document, meeting, and ritual was in French, and the new hire didn’t speak it.

“We made the decision to translate all of the knowledge. All of the weekly meetings would be in English. I think it was the best decision ever”, Laure said.

It paid off well beyond that one hire. Today, everyone speaks English, and HR funds classes for anyone who wants them.

What Legal Groundwork Can’t Wait?

Two things here, both far easier to do early than to fix later.

The first is fraud prevention. Setting up a UK company takes about 2 days, which is as convenient for bad actors as it is for you. Fraud rates are around 5 times higher than in other markets, so Know Your Customer (KYC) checks need to be stronger before launch.

Baptiste Petelle warned that weak KYC can cause a bank to shut down a partner within days.

The second is your paperwork. Resist the temptation to translate your existing terms and conditions. You need proper British terms drafted for the market, which means engaging a solicitor early and treating them as a long-term advisor rather than a one-off cost.

Factor this in: The UK is 1 commercial market but 3 legal jurisdictions, and Scotland has its own legal system, which means contracts name a governing law rather than “British law”. Another reason to have a UK legal expert who knows the full landscape on hand.