Business bank accounts - any recommendations?

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Hi all, I'm looking for a bank account to use for a new business. Ideally I'd like a high street one but it seems that the branches which are left on the high street, just direct you to their online services.
Does anyone have personal experience of a bank, either online only or with physical branches, that's particularly helpful/good. Or are they all much of a much?
Are there any you wouldn't touch with a barge pole?
Thank you

They are all much the same, you'll get as many recommendations for one as you'll get people saying never use them. Though saying that don't be tempted by free banking from FSB with Co-op, their online banking is dire. I use Starling for my own business and am very happy with it, like the pots which means I can save for tax, bills, VAT, etc easily. NatWest/Mettle gives you free accounting software with Freeagent which is generally quite good. If you have a Metro locally, they have a good in person presence with business managers in branch.

We have a Lloyd’s business bank account and although I haven’t tried any others we haven’t had any issues at all since set up several years ago.

I use starling too - no issues

I use both Natwest and Barclays and much prefer Natwest between the two, as another poster said you also get Free Agent accounting software as part of it with Natwest which means you don't have to look at other software for being Making Tax Digital compliant.

I'm stuck with Barlacys for business accounting for another part of the business and find their way of doing things a bit messy, plus they have shut the local branch which is a complete PITA as some of our customers still rely on using cheques for larger payments.

Had a huge row with very unhelpful Barclays, changing account to my married name, lost count of messages and phone calls, now with virgin money who I have found really easy to deal with. Also unlike Barclays if you have a query are easy to get through to on phone.

When I had a business account it was with Metro and they were brilliant, really helpful.

Thank you all. The accountant is going to help a lot with invoicing and tax etc - will I definitely need accounting software? Am completely new to this - the 'work' part is fine but the whole limited company thing is totally unknown.
I do like the sound of separate pots for tax

As tax is going digital .look for accounts that give free software. NAT west does this. You also get 2 accounts..one for everyday and one that you can put money aside for tax etc. This does give a small amount of interest.

Unless you are actually borrowing money, they are all much of a muchness. We’ve tried HSBC and Lloyds Business banking so far. We now turn over £30m + but, because we don’t actually borrow money, we still just have basic services. We have a “business manager” but it’s some youth on the phone who has no idea.
Yes, you will absolutely need accounting software and yes you will absolutely need to accrue for tax and vat.

Thanks again - much appreciated

Even if the accountant is helping you, if you can do some of the work it'll keep your costs down but you also need to know what is happening in your business so using software will help with this. Your accountant may have a preferred software so worth checking first.

Starling

OP - you mentioned limited company in your comment. Yes, you WILL need an accountant. HMRC are removing the ability to file annual accounts using their free software from next March. You need to make sure you start as you mean to go on - and that means proper boundaries between company money and your money.

I use Starling in my small retail business - and it works great for us.

Is there a specific reason why you went with LTD from day one? Companies do have greater compliance costs than a sole trade

We use HSBC and it integrates well with our Xero accounts. Plus when I need to call I get a UK based call centre. We're a limited company so I have a separate savings account with them to set aside for our company tax bill.

I have an account with Mettle which is NatWest. It integrates to FreeAgent well, so I can see my tax liability at a glance and is easy to use.
ive previously used TSB which was a pain for getting my statements out but otherwise good customer service etc.
Originally I had NatWest and it was okay.
I only moved to tsb as there was a huge cash incentive at the time. Was happy to move back when I had opened a new business.

In the past I have used Lloyds (not great) but now use Barclays (pretty good). Re accounting software if the business is small most opt for Xero but I have used Pandle for years and it is a lot cheaper and UK focussed (UK business behind it). Also, in order to help manage business liabilities I have recently added Marygold (new ish app) as it is free, easy to use and means I keep all the money I don't want mixed together with 'normal' business money completely separated.

I use Barclays which integrates with Xero as a PP said. Never had any problems although all 4 of my nearby local branches have closed.

I am with Virgin, I didn't choose them I was with Yorkshire and they took over
Their app and online service is pretty good, no complaints and I can move my money into an attached pot and get interest. Plus I get cashback on debit card purchases

Thanks again all. To answer the question as to why I've gone straight to limited co instead of sole trader, it's because the client has specified it as a requirement.
Am also needing some kind of public liability, professional indemnity insurance.

I use qdos for insurance, but they are contractor specialists. Hiscox are a good option.

I use starling too. Very happy with them.

Hi all - quick question for those of you who went for mettle/natwest accounts.
Do I need the NatWest start up business account too, or is mettle sufficient for everything?

My business account is with Monzo. If you already have a personal account with them it’s extremely easy to do. Probably very easy to set up without a personal account with them already too. The app is really good. I don’t know what they’re like branch-wise though - will you be handling any cash or have any other reason that you’d need to go into a physical branch?

Transactions won't be cash, so hopefully no need to go into a branch.

I just have a mettle account no start up account (I didn’t know they existed). Do check the number of transactions a month etc I only have 2 or 3 at most so it’s not an issue for me, so didn’t think of it when you first asked.