Build Your Engineering Team in the UK

For US companies that want London talent without the London learning curve

UK engineers cost a fraction of the Bay Area, share your morning with New York, and come out of four of the world's top ten universities. We hire them for you, lead them with a local full-time / fractional CTO, and run the team as your dedicated R&D centre, or help you run it yourself.

Pricing on request, scoped with a CTO on a call.

The case for the UK, in four numbers

Senior talent, at a lower total cost, in a market that already attracts more tech investment than anywhere else in Europe.

  • The median total compensation for a London software engineer is £102,020, against $280,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area and $200,000 in New York, according to Levels.fyi.

    source

  • Four of the top ten universities in the QS World University Rankings 2027 are British: Imperial, Oxford, Cambridge and UCL.

    source

  • The UK AI sector employed 86,139 people across 5,862 companies with £23.9 billion of revenue in 2024, according to the UK government.

    source

  • UK fintech companies raised 3.6 billion US dollars in 2025, second only to the US and more than the next five European countries combined.

    source

What is a UK global capability centre?

A global capability centre (GCC), also called an offshore development centre or R&D centre, is a dedicated team a company sets up in another country to build its own product, rather than outsourcing projects to an agency. For US companies, a UK centre gives access to London's AI, fintech and insurance talent with a shared working morning. Metamindz sets one up and runs it for you, or helps you run it yourself: a Managed R&D Lab that we employ and run, with a local CTO included and the option to take it in-house later (build, operate, transfer). If you decide to run it yourself, you own the UK entity (with Metamindz' help setting it up), and we still hire the team and provide a local full-time / fractional CTO.

Why US companies are already here

🤖

The AI labs are hiring here

OpenAI is moving into its first permanent London office, with room for 544 people, and says London will be its largest research hub outside San Francisco. Its London site lead says "The UK has an incredible depth of talent and a strong track record in AI" (Tech.eu). Anthropic has space for 800 in London and describes "an exceptional pool of AI talent" (IT Channel Oxygen).

🏦

Europe's centre for fintech and insurance

UK fintechs raised $3.6bn in 2025, second only to the US (Innovate Finance). The Lloyd's market wrote £57.9bn of premium in 2025 (Lloyd's). If you sell into finance or insurance, your engineers can sit next to your customers.

🕐

Your morning is their afternoon

London is five hours ahead of New York and eight ahead of San Francisco for most of the year. East Coast teams get a shared morning for planning and reviews; the UK team ships while you sleep.

🤝

Same language, familiar law

English-speaking, with a common-law legal system and business norms US teams already know. Fewer surprises in contracts, communication and culture than most offshore locations.

📍

Lower cost, wherever you put them

Remote across the UK keeps costs down: the median software engineer advert in Manchester is £70,000, against £100,000 in London (IT Jobs Watch, six months to October 2026). Hybrid works well for a London core with people elsewhere. And if you want a dedicated office, we find it, book it for you or help you book it, and bring the team in.

📈

Investment keeps coming

US software and IT projects into the UK rose 21% in 2025, and the UK won more tech investment projects than France or Germany (EY). AI firms leased over 661,000 sq ft of London offices in the first half of 2026, more than in all of 2025 (Knight Frank).

Pick how much of the UK side you want to own

Either way, our CTOs hire the team and a local full-time / fractional CTO leads it. The difference is who employs the engineers.

Metamindz Managed R&D Lab

We set up the UK team, employ it and run it for you. You get the output and the people.

Pricing on request, scoped on an intro call.

Best for

US companies that want a UK engineering team working in weeks, without opening a UK entity or learning UK employment law first.

What you get

  • Metamindz is the UK employer: contracts, payroll, pensions, HR and compliance
  • CTO-led hiring through our technical recruitment process
  • The team works on your roadmap, in your repos, your tools and your rituals
  • Remote across the UK, hybrid, or a dedicated office we find and book for you
  • A local full-time / fractional CTO leading the team day to day
  • Regular reporting to your leadership on delivery, hiring and team health
  • An option to move the team into your own UK subsidiary later

Included, plus options

  • Local CTO included
  • Transfer to your own UK subsidiary
  • Visa sponsorship, looked into if you need it

Your own UK subsidiary

Your company, your UK entity, your employees. We help you set it up, hire it and lead it.

Pricing on request, scoped on an intro call.

Best for

US companies that want to own the UK operation from day one and already have, or are happy to appoint, UK accountants and legal advisers.

What you get

  • Set-up coordinated with our regulated accounting and formation partners
  • CTO-led recruitment for every role in the UK team, included in the package
  • A local full-time / fractional CTO to lead the team and its engineering practices, included in the package
  • Help choosing a location model: remote, hybrid or a dedicated office
  • Engineering onboarding, ways of working and reporting lines to your team at home

You stay responsible for

  • Accounting and payroll
  • Legal and company secretarial
  • Tax filings
  • Employment contracts and HR

Build, operate, transfer: start with a Managed R&D Lab, then move the team into your own UK subsidiary once it has proved itself.

Get your UK numbers in five minutes

Our free UK Expansion Planner prices the roles you want at UK market rates, adds employer National Insurance and pension, recommends a set-up and lists the UK employment rules that apply to you. Built for any company outside the UK, not just US ones.

An engineering team working at desks with laptops and monitors in a bright London office with floor-to-ceiling windows
Hiring

Charles - UK Expansion Planner

Tell Charles what you build and who you want to hire, and get UK market salaries, a first-year cost estimate, the right set-up for your company and the employment rules you need to know.

Open the tool

How it works

  • Week 1

    Scoping call with a CTO

    Roles, seniority, budget, location model and timeline. You get a recommended set-up and a quote.

  • Next

    Set-up and hiring

    We set up the Lab, or our partners register your UK company. Our engineers and CTOs source and screen candidates; you interview the shortlist and approve every hire.

  • Then

    Your UK team ships

    The team works on your roadmap, in your tools, led locally by a full-time / fractional CTO who reports to your US leadership.

A UK team versus the alternatives

How a UK R&D team compares with hiring more people at home or outsourcing offshore.

What mattersUK team with MetamindzMore US hires, or an offshore agency
Cost per senior engineerLondon median total comp is £102k; outside London, lower still$280k median in the Bay Area, $200k in New York (Levels.fyi)
Overlap with a US working dayA shared morning with the East CoastFull overlap at home; little or none with offshore teams in Asia
Who screens the engineersOur engineers and CTOs, with technical assessment on every candidateYour own team's time at home; the agency's bench offshore
Who leads themA UK-based full-time / fractional CTO, reporting to your US leadershipYour managers, or an agency account manager
Whose team it isDedicated to you, with a path into your own UK subsidiaryYours at home; usually shared contractors offshore

More on building in the UK

The UK R&D Lab service

Both set-up models in detail, step by step, with the full FAQ.

Why US companies are building engineering teams in London

OpenAI, Anthropic, the EY investment figures, and what is actually drawing teams here in 2026.

UK vs US software engineer cost

Fully loaded cost of an engineer in London, Manchester, San Francisco and New York, with the workings.

Hiring AI engineers in the UK

What AI and ML engineers cost in London, who you are competing with, and how to win the hire.

Hiring AI engineers

How we find and assess AI and ML engineers, role by role.

Fractional CTO

Senior technical leadership on the ground in the UK, part time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talent and cost. London has a deep pool of AI, fintech and software engineers from some of the world's best universities, at a lower total cost than San Francisco or New York, with a shared working morning with the East Coast. OpenAI and Anthropic both announced large new London offices in April 2026, and US tech investment projects into the UK rose 21% in 2025.

On Levels.fyi, median total compensation for a software engineer is £102,020 in London, against $280,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area and $200,000 in New York (October 2026). Employer costs differ too: UK employers pay 15% National Insurance above £5,000 a year, and because the NHS covers healthcare, private medical insurance is a perk rather than a cost you have to carry. Our UK vs US cost guide has the full workings.

Not with a Managed R&D Lab: Metamindz is the UK employer, and the team works only for you. If you would rather own the entity, we help you set up your own UK subsidiary with our regulated accounting and formation partners, and you run the accounting, legal and HR side.

No. An EOR only puts people you have already found on its payroll. We find and screen the engineers, lead them with a UK-based full-time / fractional CTO, and either employ and run the team for you or help you set up your own entity.

It can be. Start with a Managed R&D Lab that we build and run, and move the team into your own UK subsidiary when you are ready. Transfer terms are agreed with you up front.

Yes. We run a dedicated AI engineer recruitment track, with technical assessment by our own engineers. Be ready for competition: the big AI labs are hiring heavily in London, so we help you shape an offer that wins the people you actually need.

No. Remote across the UK is the most cost-effective set-up, hybrid gives you a London core, and if you want a dedicated office we find it, book it or help you book it, and bring the team there.

Most UK candidates already have the right to work here. If a specific hire needs sponsorship, we can look into sponsoring the visa for you.

Pricing is on request. It depends on the roles, the seniority, the location model and the add-ons, so we scope it on a call and send you a quote.

Planning a UK team?

Tell us the roles, the size of the team and when you want it working. A CTO will come back with a recommended set-up and a quote.

Sources

  1. EY, "London tops Europe for tech investment as UK leads digital FDI", 8 June 2026
  2. Tech.eu, "OpenAI to move to first permanent London office", 13 April 2026
  3. IT Channel Oxygen, "Anthropic invests in 800-seat London office", 16 April 2026
  4. CDO Magazine, "Anthropic expands London presence with new office for 800 employees", April 2026
  5. City AM, "London AI jobs boom as Anthropic salaries hit £630k", 26 May 2026
  6. Knight Frank via IREI, "AI firms lease more London office space in six months than all of 2025", 10 July 2026
  7. GOV.UK (DSIT), "Artificial Intelligence sector study 2024", 3 September 2025
  8. QS, "World's Best Universities Revealed" (QS World University Rankings 2027), 17 June 2026
  9. Markets Media, citing Innovate Finance, "Global fintech funding rises 21% in 2025", January 2026
  10. Lloyd's, full year results 2025, 19 March 2026
  11. Levels.fyi, software engineer total compensation, London, Bay Area and New York, accessed 22 October 2026
  12. IT Jobs Watch, software engineer median salaries, six months to 22 October 2026
  13. HMRC, "Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027"
  14. GOV.UK, "Business transfers, takeovers and TUPE"

All figures exclude VAT.