PAYG eSIMS with UK mobile phone number?

A UK based financial organization I need to deal with occasionally require I have a UK mobile phone number to authorize certain transactions. But I don’t live in the UK anymore…

So, I’m assuming the most obvious workaround would be to just get an eSIM with a UK mobile number. I’m guessing I’ll need to be able to get SMS messages and incoming calls but I shouldn’t need much, if any, data though I guess the would be useful for when I visit the green and pleasant land…

So, any ideas for eSIM providers for little outlay which don’t require monthly payments

(I’m not even sure if PAYG is possible with eSIMs)

Lycamobile?

Looks like Lycamobile use traditional SIMS or at least need to post a SIM to a UK address before enabling an eSIM

I use Holafly esims when travelling. You can get them for the UK too. Completely digital purchase.

https://esim.holafly.com/esim-united-kingdom/

Holafly is data only. I need a UK-based mobile number (specifically NOT landline format) to receive calls and/or texts.

Oh sorry. Never noticed as I just don’t make phone calls!

You can’t use a regular UK SIM abroad permanently. Three say for example “You can only use Go Roam for periodic travel, like holidays or short breaks” https://www.three.co.uk/support/roaming-and-calling-abroad/roaming-and-calling-abroad-faqs.

If you want a UK number you can get one but it’s around £8 / month – https://www.google.com/search?q=uk+mobile+number+for+expats.

Ttnc.co.uk will supply a virtual UK mobile number, which forwards to email or another phone. Cost is about £5 a month though, I’m sure other VOIP providers will do similar (we use their landline VOIP numbers at work).

TTNC don’t allow SMS verification emails.

I’ll need to give the financial org who’s demanding this a call and get them to figure out a workable solution. They know I’m not in the UK as they keep sending me mail in the post!