Expanding to France from the South West: A Practical Playbook for SMEs

If you run a growing business in the South West, France can be a logical first step onto the continent. It is close, it is a huge market, and it rewards firms that plan ahead. This playbook focuses on the nuts and bolts that matter most to UK SMEs: the right company type, watertight contracts, early tax registrations, and bilingual documentation that actually works in practice.

Many founders wonder why so many peers rely on French Lawyers in London and the UK during the early stages. The short answer is alignment. You want structures, contracts, and filings that make sense on both sides of the Channel, so payroll, banking, and reporting flow cleanly. Getting that alignment from day one avoids the cost of retrofitting later.

France has been actively courting foreign investment in recent years, with reforms and incentives widely tracked by the Financial Times’ coverage of French business, amid discussions of the opportunities and pitfalls. For South West SMEs, the strategy is simple: choose a structure that aligns with your growth plan, build contracts that are adaptable, register taxes promptly, and maintain a bilingual approach.

SAS or SARL: which entity fits?

For most UK owners, the decision narrows to SAS or SARL.

SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée)

Best for flexibility and fundraising. You can tailor governance in the articles, appoint a President rather than a board-heavy structure, and issue different share classes more easily. SAS is often preferred by firms that expect to add investors or operate a subsidiary network. Social charges on dividends are typically lighter than those for managing partners in a SARL, which can make remuneration planning more straightforward for scale-ups.

SARL (Société à Responsabilité Limitée)

Familiar, sturdy, and popular with family-run or owner-managed companies. Governance is more prescriptive, led by a gérant, and changes to shareholding can be less fluid than in an SAS. The trade-off is simplicity and a model that banks and local accountants know inside out.

Both provide limited liability and access to the same tax regimes. Your call should turn on how you plan to raise capital, who needs decision-making power, and how you want to pay founder-managers. When growth is the priority, SAS usually wins. When stability and straightforward administration are more important, SARL is often sufficient.

Contracts that travel well

Cross-border work collapses when contracts clash. Draft bilingual agreements that are genuinely parallel versions, not loose translations. Specify governing law, jurisdiction, language of the contract, and how notices are served. Add France-specific essentials: works-for-hire wording that complies with French IP rules, distributor or commercial agent terms that acknowledge statutory compensation risks, and data protection clauses that reflect French enforcement culture rather than purely UK norms. Labour-market nuances can be material and are often unpacked by The Economist’s analysis of France’s economy and employment landscape within a broader context, which is helpful when you set HR policies and benefits.

Tax registrations: start early, move fast

Treat tax as a Day 0 task, not an afterthought.

· Corporate ID and registration: secure your SIREN/SIRET numbers quickly. Banks, payroll providers, and many counterparties will not move without them.

· VAT/TVA: determine whether you need French VAT registration from the outset. Intra-EU supplies, distance sales, warehousing, or local services can trigger obligations earlier than expected.

· Payroll and social security: if you hire locally or second staff, set up payroll and social security accounts in tandem. Delays here cascade into compliance headaches.

· Corporate tax: map your corporation tax rate and payment schedule, and confirm whether you qualify for any credits or exemptions relevant to R&D or training.

Bilingual documentation that actually works

Keep a bilingual suite ready: articles, shareholder resolutions, director appointments, registers, employment templates, supplier contracts, and sales T&Cs. Use sworn translators for documents that may be filed or notarised. Consistency is everything. If the English and French versions diverge, specify which version prevails, and ensure that commercial terms such as milestones, KPIs, and service levels are used naturally in the French business context.

A practical first-100-day plan

1. Choose the entity: workshop SAS vs SARL using your hiring plan, investor roadmap, and founder pay model.

2. Open banking and address: line up a bank and a registered office solution early to avoid registration bottlenecks.

3. Draft bilingual base contracts: employment, supplier, customer, and IP assignments, all with parallel language and enforcement clauses.

4. Register taxes and payroll: secure numbers, set up returns, and calendar all deadlines.

5. Insurance and compliance: employer’s liability equivalents, professional indemnity, and sector licences where applicable.

6. Operate and refine: start with a pilot region or client set, then iterate.

Why UK-based advisers make sense

Time zones, travel, and the need to reconcile UK and French requirements make London and South West-friendly advisers an efficient hub. Coordinated teams that include French lawyers, notaries, and translators can run entity formation, contract localisation, tax setup, and banking in one coherent sequence. That saves founders context switching, and it keeps your governance and reporting tidy for future funding or exit.

Bottom line

Start with structure, then build contracts and compliance around it. Prioritise bilingual clarity, register taxes early, and lean on cross-border specialists who understand how UK decisions play out in France. Do that, and your first French clients will feel like a natural extension of the business you have built in the South West.