CHOOSING A NAME FOR YOUR NEW COMPANY

Choosing and securing your choice of company name is an important part of the company formation process.

A company name must:

•    end in limited or Ltd

•    not be offensive

•    not be the same as a name already registered

•    not contain any sensitive words without appropriate justification or permission.

Sounds simple?  In theory, yes, but in practice, this is becoming increasingly difficult.

There are over two million names already on the register so those names are already unavailable.  Also, the Companies Act 2006 introduced new provisions.  These make ensuring your choice is not the “same as” an existing company name a lot harder.

Companies House will “disregard plurals or certain types of punctuation marks” when considering a proposed company name.  A whole host of other words and expressions will be ignored, depending on where in the name they appear.

Contact us if you want further help in this area or other company matters generally.

19 May 2010

Disclaimer

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice on their own particular circumstances.