There has never been an easy way of knowing whether a company is based overseas. This is because there is no UK register of overseas companies operating in the UK. But now, this has changed. Private Eye has produced an interactive map 1 which allows you to see which properties are owned by offshore companies, the name of the company, and the country the company is based in. The map shows that numerous local properties are owned offshore including:
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| Property | Company | Based in |
| The Library Pub | Stonegate Pubs | Cayman Islands |
| The Hyde Park Hotel | Stonegate Pubs | Cayman Islands |
| The Royal Park Hotel | Stonegate Pubs | Cayman Islands |
| The Dry Dock | Stonegate Pubs | Cayman Islands |
| Spring Bank | Springbank Properties | Jersey |
| Samara Plaza | Prosperity Arwa | Jersey |
| The Arndale Centre | Spreit | Guernsey |
| Yates’s, Woodhouse Lane | Stonegate Pubs | Cayman Islands |
| The Merchant, Woodhouse Lane | Stonegate Pubs | Cayman Islands |
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Because companies have to tell the Land Registry where they’re based when they purchase property, all the necessary information is held inside the Land Registry database. Private Eye has unlocked this database by searching thousands of Land Registry entries to uncover which UK properties are owned by offshore companies. The map for our area looks like this:
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So, if you take a dim view of companies operating in the UK trying to avoid paying tax,2 you might want to forego popping in for a pint the next time you pass any of the pubs listed above.
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Even Castle House, the building in the city centre occupied by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, is owned by a company based in the Cayman Islands!
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References