Company registration name - use of the company name

Company registration name - main considerations

• The company has the sole use of the company name with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House.
• The company, as a legal entity, is the company registered number on the Companies House register.
• Company name is your responsibility.
• The company registration name may be changed at any time.
• To avoid conflicts we advise careful consideration and inspection of:
• Companies House list of registered companies.
• Trade Mark Registry.
• Business name registrations and data bases.
• Internet search engines.
• No rights to use a name are given by Companies House.
• Similarly there is no protection, by Companies House, from others using the name except "exact" matches on the Companies House register.
• There is no attempt to avoid conflict with trade names; this being left to the interests concerned through general commercial law.
• Other existing companies have the right to apply to Companies House within one year:
• if they feel that your company name is too similar to theirs and
• that there is the danger of confusion between the two names;
• which may adversely affect their business.
• Companies House apply a very restricted and technical approach to uniqueness of name.
• Obvious similarities will be disallowed such as existing names with added:
• UK.
• Services.
• International.
• .com or similar.
• Numbers as words and words as numbers.
• "and" to "&" or "&" to "and".
• Addition of punctuation marks and symbols.
• Names with bogus suggestion of links to professional, regulated or public interest bodies will not be registered.

Company registration name - other considerations

If your business requires a licence under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the chosen name must also be acceptable to the Office of Fair Trading.

Company registration name - reuse of a name

• Once a company registration name has been changed it is available for reuse by you or anyone else.
• After a company is struck off
• the name becomes available for reregistation.
• If your company has been struck off, you may register a new company with the same name.
• This will be a new legal entity.
• With a new company registered number.
• The procedure should be completed professionally.
• You must be careful to avoid fraudulent results.
• A company name undergoing liquidation is not available until the process is complete and the company is removed from the register.
• The new company will have to go through new Getting started procedures for:
• VAT registration.
• We can apply for transfer of your VAT number.
• All other tax numbers have to be new.
• PAYE new scheme.
• Construction industry scheme CIS, if applicable, new scheme; same reference as the PAYE scheme.
• Open a new bank account.
• A new Corporation tax number will automatically be issued by HM Revenue & Customs and sent to the registered office.
• Before you make an application to have a company struck off:
• You need to:
• Wait three months after any change of company registration name.
• Confirm that the company has not traded for three months.
• Settle outstanding company debts.
• File outstanding Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE, Construction industry scheme CIS returns.
• The striking off process takes three months to complete.