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Change your company name
Changing a registered company name by resolution, with the new certificate issued by Companies House.
The company number never changes. The name does, and the old one stays visible in the company's filing history. The new name has to clear the same rules as a new registration: permitted characters, a valid ending, sensitive words, and the "same as" test against every company already on the register.
When it is due
Whenever you decide. The change takes effect when Companies House issues the certificate of incorporation on change of name.
What we do
- The proposed name checked against the register and the sensitive words list first
- The written resolution drafted for the shareholders to pass
- The change filed and the new certificate obtained
- A reminder of everything that has to follow: bank, HMRC, insurers, contracts, invoices, website
What happens if it is not done
A name that is too like an existing one can be challenged after registration, and Companies House can direct a change. Trading under the old name after the change confuses contracts and invoices, which matters more than it sounds when someone disputes a debt.
Questions
Will my company number change?
Can I trade under a different name without changing it?
Does changing the name protect it as a brand?
Related
- Confirmation statement — The annual filing that confirms the information Companies House holds about your company is correct. Due every year whether or not anything has changed.
- Identity verification — Directors and people with significant control must have a verified identity. We verify you as an authorised corporate service provider.
- Director appointments and resignations — Filing an appointment, a resignation or a change of a director's details at Companies House, with the statutory registers updated to match.
- Issue of shares — Allotting new shares — to bring in an investor, reward a joiner, or restructure who owns what — with the return of allotment filed at Companies House.
- Transfer of shares — Moving existing shares from one holder to another — stock transfer form, board approval, register of members and the next confirmation statement.
- Dormant company accounts — Accounts for a company that has had no significant accounting transactions in the financial year.
Change of company name
£45 + VAT
plus £20 Companies House feeEvery fee is on the pricing page. Statutory fees are passed on at cost.
All filing services
Change of company name
Tell us the company number and what needs doing. If it is already late, say so — that changes the order things have to happen in, not whether we will help.
Change of company name enquiry
Tell us what you are trying to do and we will reply with what is involved. No obligation, and we will say so plainly if what you need is not something we do.