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Choosing a name for your limited company

Published on Jul 20, 2009 |

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If you want to set up as a limited company contractor, there are some things you should look out for when choosing a company name.

You should take your time researching possible company names, as you may trade under it for many years. You will also want to present a professional image to clients or recruitment agencies.

Here are some essential company naming tips:

1) Future Proof

When setting up your limited company, bear in mind that you may want to conduct non-contracting business through it one day.

So, 'Rapid IT Solutions Limited', although a logical choice for a contractor company, may not be such an ideal name if you turn your hand to property development or something unrelated in the future.

Many contractors have entrepreneurial flair, so such a consideration is worth taking on board. Although you can always change your company name in the future, it's wise to try and get it right first time.

2) Naming Rules

Companies House has a number of company naming rules.

Obviously the name must not be offensive - it must also not be too similar to an existing company name. You should also not try to incorporate a trademarked word into your company name - such as 'Microsoft Web Design Ltd'.

Business Link has a handy company name and trademark checker here.

All companies must end in 'ltd', 'limited', or 'plc'. IT contractor companies will almost always end in 'limited' or 'ltd'.

3) Domain names

When choosing your company name, we always recommend trying to secure the related internet domain names at the same time. Not only will this protect your future web presence, but having matching company and domain names can add to your credibility. Always secure the .com and .co.uk domain suffices, and add as many others as you wish depending on how deep your pockets are.

We've used easily.co.uk for domain name purchases for the past decade - they're reliable and good value.

Also read our ever-popular article on Bytestart - Top 10 tips for choosing a business domain name.

4) Investigation

Although there may only be anecdotal evidence to support it, with IR35 so closely associated with the contracting profession, having a company name which contains the words 'contractor' or 'freelancer' may catch the eye of HMRC tax inspectors.

Given that IR35 has been very hard to apply in practice, the tax authorities will typically seek easy targets for IR35 investigations.

A limited company named 'Ipswich IT contracting services limited', with a sole director drawing a small salary and large dividends, has 'IR35 status enquiry' written all over it.

Of course you may well fall outside the IR35 rules anyway, but you don't want to stand out from the crowd when you can easily avoid doing so.

Limited Company Formation

If you want to choose a company name right away, why not try our long-term company formations parter, Duport.

If you are considering setting up a company but you're not ready to go ahead, you can always set up a dormant limited company and protect the name for future use.

Finally, if you decide that your initial choice of company name wasn't good - you can always change it by informing Companies House.