Ideas for a great business can come out of nowhere but sometimes the timing isn’t right. Perhaps you are not in a financial position to quit your job and start a company, perhaps you think the market isn’t ready for your business yet or perhaps you just need some more time to plan it. But in the meantime, you want to keep your business name for when you are ready to do it. Imagine if when you are finally ready to start your company, only to realize when you are registering your company that someone has beaten you to it. In order to prevent this disappointment from happening, you can register a company name with Companies House or a company formation agent. By doing so, the company or business name that the person has thought of will be part of the central register. This means that it is protected and nobody else can use that business name.
In the event that someone thinks of the same company or business name or a very similar one and uses it, the person who reserved the company name first can make a protest against the other part. It is important to keep in mind though that a person does not have a right to make a protest if the company name that he has thought of has not been registered with Companies House. Below are some commonly asked questions related to how to register a company name.
Can I reserve a name without registration?
Many people think that they can reserve a company name even if they do not register it. This may be because they would need some time to set up the business or they are just not ready to do that yet. However, people in the United Kingdom should understand that a company name can only be reserved if it is registered with Companies House If not, anybody can stake a claim on it. Starting a company is not something that can be done overnight. There are plenty of things to take into consideration. The very first thing that a person should do would be to register the name with Companies House by forming a limited company so that they can be sure that it will be theirs and theirs alone.
Can I register a non-trading company for the meantime?
Many times, people would think of a great business name but are not yet ready to start the business. They only want to reserve a company name. Trading will have to happen later because of the various factors that need to be worked on before the limited company becomes operational. As mentioned above, a company name can only be reserved if a limited company is registered. You can reserve a company name by registered the company as dormant with Companies House. However, there are non-trading formation services that people can take advantage of. This means that the name can be reserved with this service. Other companies will manage the company that has been registered while the real owner fixes and takes care of the other things needed to actually make the business run. Taking advantage of this service would allow a person to prepare for the actual operations of the business without having to worry about not being able to register the company name that they want. Business that offer this service can register the company for a person and even submit the annual return and other dormant accounts if necessary for a fee.
Should I register my business name on the web as well?
When a person registers his company name with Companies House, it only reserves the name in the United Kingdom. However, if a person is thinking of expanding the business online or having an online presence, it would be highly encouraged to also register a domain name. By doing this, a person can be sure that even that domain name will not be used by anyone anywhere in the world.
To reserve a company name by registering it with Companies House can be a big help especially for people who are really interested in setting up the business soon. These individuals can also take advantage of services from companies such as us here at Company address to manage the dormant company while you get your ducks in order. Contact us on office@companyaddress.co.uk or register your company today by beginning with searching your company name here.
published under Business Address Guides
