New company name availability search from Companies House

Businesses forming a new company can now check that their proposed new company name is not the 'same as' the name of an existing company, to prevent it being rejected by Companies House, using a new service from Companies House.

New rules under the Companies Act 2006 (see below) made significant changes to the way the Registrar of Companies decides whether a proposed limited company name is classed as being the 'same as' another already on the register. However, the alphabetical search of the Index of company names (that can be carried out using the online WebCHeck service on the Companies House website) does not always include results where a company name is considered to be the 'same as' another under the Act, as it is a strict alphabetical search. This has resulted in instances where applications to register a limited company or to change an existing company's name, have been rejected for being the 'same as' an existing name.

However, Companies House has now developed a new online 'Company Name Availability Search' which returns the 'same as' matches, as defined in the Company and Business Names (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2009. If no matches are returned, then the company name entered is likely to be available at the time of searching.

Businesses should remember that this service only helps with similar names, and checks must still be made to ensure that 'sensitive' words or expressions are not used in the company name - words and expressions that can only be used if they can be justified when submitting company incorporation or change of name paperwork to Companies House.

Recommendation

• Access the new service by selecting the 'Company Name Availability Search' option on the Companies House website
• Find out which words and expressions are 'sensitive' by downloading the Companies House 'Incorporation and Names' guidance notes on this topic