Key Takeaways
- We build each listing from the firm's own public website. It tells you what the firm says about itself.
- AdvisoryHub hasn't verified any firm's licences or services. Check the licence number with the authority that issued it before you sign anything.
- For now, no firm pays for its place. Directory pages run in alphabetical order, and an emirate page shows firms based in that emirate first.
- There are no reviews or ratings in the directory at the moment.
- If you ask for an introduction through the site, AdvisoryHub may be paid a fee.
You've found a business setup firm in our directory and you're thinking of hiring it. Here's what that listing can and can't tell you. Each listing of a business setup provider on AdvisoryHub is a summary of what the firm says on its own public website. Business setup providers are the firms that help you get a trade licence, the document that lets your company do business, along with visas and other paperwork.
Where the listings come from and what is not verified
We write the listings from the firms' own public websites. A listing repeats what the firm claims about itself. It doesn't test those claims.
AdvisoryHub hasn't verified any firm's licences or services. Seeing a firm here doesn't confirm that it holds a particular licence or really offers a particular service. AdvisoryHub isn't a regulator either. Treat a listing as the firm's own description, and use it to work out what to ask.
Check the licence number before you sign
Ask the firm for two things: its licence number and the name of the authority that issued it. Then check that number with the authority yourself. Which authority that is depends on where the firm is licensed. For a mainland firm in Dubai, meaning one outside the free zones, it's the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), formerly called DED. A mainland firm in Abu Dhabi answers to the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED). A free zone, an area with its own authority that licenses companies under its own rules, issues licences to the firms based there.
The licence also lists the firm's licensed activities, meaning the exact business it may carry out. Compare them with the service you're paying for. Some firms say a free zone has made them an official partner. If that matters to you, get the zone to confirm it in writing.
Some quotes and contracts deserve a closer look, and the red flags guide explains which. For more questions to ask, see the guide to choosing a consultant.
Questions to put to any firm
You can use these with any setup firm, whether you found it here or somewhere else. Ask for the answers by email. That way you can compare firms point by point, and you have something to hold them to later.
- Which authority issued your licence, and what's the number?
- Which of your licensed activities covers the service I'm buying?
- Does the quote show government fees apart from your own fee, and does it say what isn't included?
- Which logins and original documents will stay in my name?
To see what a quote really covers, read the package comparison guide. And if you're unsure how much of the work to hand over at all, the guide on whether you need a consultant can help.
Order, reviews, ratings and fees
For now, no firm pays to be placed higher. Directory pages list firms in alphabetical order. On a page for one emirate, firms based in that emirate come first. Below a guide you may see four firms from the directory. They're picked in rotation, not because anyone paid, which is why they change from one guide to the next. A firm's position depends only on its name, its location and that rotation.
You won't find a score on any listing, because the directory has no reviews or ratings at the moment. When you ask for an introduction to a firm through the site, AdvisoryHub may receive a fee.
Corrections and removal
If you run a listed firm and something in your listing is wrong, or you want it taken down, write to us through the contact page.
AdvisoryHub may receive a fee when you request an introduction; it does not affect the information on this page.
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