Changes to the rules governing the names of companies and other businesses took effect on 31 January.
The reforms, which have been introduced following consultation, will reduce the number of “sensitive” words and expressions that can be included in a business, limited liability partnership or company name without approval from Companies House. Those dropped from the list include:
- authority
- board
- data protection
- European
- giro
- group
- human rights
- national
- oversight
- registered
- regulation
- United Kingdom
- watchdog.
Names that are identical to or the “same as” an existing name cannot be registered. Under the new regime, the list of names on the “same as” list will be reduced, extending choice and making name swaps within groups of companies easier.
Words to be removed include:
- exports
- group
- holdings
- imports
- international
- services.
