VPN for Remote Work in the UK: Securing Your Home Office Connection

Remote and hybrid working has become a permanent fixture of UK employment. With millions of British workers regularly connecting to corporate systems from home offices, co-working spaces, and cafes, securing these connections has never been more important. A personal VPN provides an essential layer of protection for remote workers.

Why Remote Workers Need a VPN

When you work from home, your internet connection is only as secure as your home network. While most UK broadband connections use basic encryption, they lack the enterprise-grade security found in corporate office networks. A VPN adds military-grade encryption to your connection, protecting sensitive business data from interception.

This is particularly important for UK workers who handle personal data covered by UK GDPR. Data breaches resulting from insecure connections can lead to significant fines for your employer, and remote workers have a responsibility to take reasonable measures to protect the data they access.

Corporate VPN vs Personal VPN: Understanding the Difference

Many UK employers provide corporate VPNs that connect remote workers directly to the company's internal network. These are essential for accessing internal resources but serve a different purpose from a personal VPN.

A corporate VPN routes traffic through your employer's servers, which means your employer can monitor the traffic. It typically only encrypts traffic to and from corporate resources, not your general internet browsing. A personal VPN encrypts all your internet traffic and routes it through a third-party server. It protects your privacy from your ISP and other observers.

Many remote workers use both: a corporate VPN for accessing work resources and a personal VPN for everything else. Split tunnelling, a feature offered by most premium VPNs, allows you to route corporate traffic through your company's VPN while routing personal traffic through your personal VPN simultaneously.

Protecting Video Calls and Collaboration Tools

Video conferencing tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet have become essential for UK remote workers. While these platforms implement their own encryption, a VPN adds an additional layer of protection, particularly when you are connecting from outside your home network.

When working from cafes, co-working spaces, or hotels, a VPN ensures that your video calls and screen shares are protected from anyone else on the same network. This is not a theoretical risk: packet sniffing on public Wi-Fi is straightforward with freely available tools.

The Best VPNs for UK Remote Workers

The ideal VPN for remote work prioritises speed and stability over features like streaming unblocking. You need a VPN that maintains fast upload and download speeds for video calls and file transfers, offers split tunnelling to separate work and personal traffic, provides reliable connections that do not drop during important meetings, and has UK servers for low-latency connections.

Based on our testing, NordVPN and ExpressVPN offer the best combination of speed and stability for remote work. Surfshark provides excellent value for companies that need to cover multiple employee devices. Use our VPN comparison tool to compare speed scores and features relevant to remote work.

Setting Up a VPN for Your Home Office

Setting up a VPN for remote work is straightforward. First, choose a provider that suits your needs. Second, install the VPN app on all devices you use for work: laptop, phone, and tablet. Third, configure split tunnelling if you use a corporate VPN, ensuring work traffic goes through the corporate VPN while personal browsing is protected by your personal VPN. Fourth, enable the kill switch to prevent data leaks if the VPN connection drops. Finally, connect to a UK server for the best speeds when working with UK-based services.

Tax Considerations for UK Remote Workers

Interestingly, UK remote workers may be able to claim VPN subscriptions as a tax-deductible expense if the VPN is used primarily for work purposes. HMRC allows deductions for expenses that are "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" incurred in the performance of your duties. If your employer requires or expects you to secure your home connection, a VPN subscription may qualify. Consult with a tax professional for advice specific to your situation.

The Bottom Line

For UK remote workers, a personal VPN is not a luxury but a practical necessity. It protects sensitive business data, secures your connection on public networks, and maintains your privacy when your home and office are one and the same. With plans starting from under £2 per month, the investment is minimal compared to the protection provided.