Changing a limited company’s name takes a 75% shareholder vote, one filing at Companies House and a fee of £20 online. It becomes legal only when Companies House issues your certificate of incorporation on change of name. The filing is the easy part. The work that follows – the bank, HMRC, your VAT record, your contracts, your domains and the legal display rules – is where companies actually come unstuck, so this guide covers the process, the real cost, and the full list of what you must update afterwards.
Your company name is the defining feature of your brand, but sometimes a change is necessary: a rebrand, a change of ownership, a merger, or simply a name that no longer fits what you sell. If you are in that position, the mechanics matter, because a name change that is filed correctly but never followed through leaves you invoicing under a name your bank does not recognise.
Can you change the name of a limited company?
Yes, and as often as you like. There is no legal restriction on how many times a company can be renamed. The new name must:
not be the same as an existing name on the Companies House index, applying the statutory “same as” rules that ignore punctuation and certain common words
not be identical or confusingly similar to an existing company or registered trade mark
not contain prohibited or offensive words
not use sensitive or restricted words without the relevant permission
not infringe anyone’s intellectual property rights
Since March 2024, Companies House also has broader powers over names. It can reject a name it believes is intended to facilitate fraud, contains computer code, or falsely suggests a connection with a foreign government or an international organisation. It can also direct an existing company to change its name, and you get 28 days to comply. Ignore a direction and it is an offence, and Companies House can determine a name for you – in practice, your company registration number.
The practical considerations matter as much as the legal ones. Check your existing contracts for naming, branding or notice clauses before you commit, and check the domain and social handles are actually free – a legally registrable name you cannot use online is not much use.
How do you change the name of a limited company?
There are two routes:
by special resolution of the shareholders
by other means provided in the company’s articles of association
Special resolution of the shareholders
This is the usual route.
Pass the resolution. You need a 75% majority in favour, either at a general meeting or by written resolution. In most companies the directors approve the proposal by board resolution first, then put it to the shareholders.
File within 15 days. A copy of the special resolution must reach Companies House within 15 days of being passed. That is a statutory duty under section 30 of the Companies Act 2006, and missing it is an offence by the company and every officer in default. In practice you file the resolution together with the notice of change of name, form NM01, either online or by post.
Wait for the certificate. Once the filing is accepted, Companies House enters the new name on the register and issues a certificate of incorporation on change of name.
Other means provided in the articles
Some companies’ articles let the directors change the name without a shareholder vote. If yours do, you follow whatever procedure the articles set out and then file form NM04, the notice of change of name by means provided for in the articles. There is no statutory objection period to observe here; the procedure is whatever your own articles say it is.
Two other forms are worth knowing. If you want the change to take effect on a future event rather than immediately, you file NM02 to give notice of a conditional change, then NM03 once the condition is satisfied. NM05 covers a change of name by resolution of the directors, which is the route used where Companies House has directed a change.
Do you need a special resolution to change a company name?
Usually yes. A special resolution passed by 75% of shareholders is the standard route, and it is the one most companies use because most standard articles do not provide an alternative.
The exception is where the articles expressly allow the change to be made another way, most often by the directors alone. Check the articles before you convene a meeting, because if the power is there you can save yourself the shareholder process. If the wording is ambiguous, take advice rather than guessing – filing the wrong form means starting again.
When does the change actually take effect?
On the date Companies House issues the certificate of incorporation on change of name, and not before. The resolution date is irrelevant to when your company is legally renamed.
This matters practically. Until the certificate is issued, your registered name is the old one, and every invoice, letter and web page must still show it. From the moment it is issued, the new name is your registered name and the disclosure rules below apply to that name instead. There is no grace period. If you see advice that you can keep using the old name for 14 days after approval, ignore it – no such rule exists in the Companies Act or in Companies House guidance. What you can do, indefinitely, is keep the old name as a trading name, so long as your registered name is still disclosed where the law requires it.
What you must update after the name change
This is the part that gets skipped. Your company number does not change, your Corporation Tax UTR does not change, and you remain the same legal entity – but a long list of records still carries the old name, and some of them will break.
Who to tell
When
What they need
Your bank
As soon as the certificate is issued
Certified copy of the certificate of incorporation on change of name, plus a signed mandate instruction
HMRC, for Corporation Tax and PAYE
After Companies House has registered the change
Update through your business tax account. Companies House does not update your employer record
HMRC, for VAT
Within 30 days of the change
Normally passed on automatically once Companies House registers it. GOV.UK says your business tax account should show the new name within 15 days – chase it with form VAT484 if it does not
Intellectual Property Office
Whenever convenient
Form TM21A for trade marks, DF16A for registered designs. No fee for either
Customers, suppliers, insurers and lenders
Straight away
A written notice quoting the company number and the new certificate
The bank. Banks will not act on your resolution. They want a certified copy of the certificate, and they will usually re-run identity checks and reissue cards, cheque books and online banking credentials. Do this first, because a mismatch between your bank account name and your invoice name causes real damage: Confirmation of Payee warnings on incoming payments, direct debit and standing order mandates failing, card acquirers and payment providers holding settlement, and customers’ accounts payable teams treating your invoices as a possible fraud.
HMRC. The picture differs by tax. For VAT, if you have a company registration number you tell Companies House and they pass the change to HMRC, so no separate notification is needed in principle. GOV.UK says your business tax account should show the new name within 15 days. The 30-day notification deadline still applies to the change itself and there can be a penalty for missing it, so check the record has actually updated rather than assuming. For Corporation Tax, tell Companies House first and then confirm your business tax account shows the new name. For PAYE, you must update HMRC yourself – Companies House does not touch employer records – and your payroll software, RTI submissions and payslips all need changing too.
Your VAT certificate. HMRC no longer routinely posts out a new VAT registration certificate. The updated one appears in your VAT online account, and if you need a paper copy for a customer or a tender you can ask HMRC’s helpline for one. Download it once the change comes through, because it is the document counterparties ask for.
Contracts. Existing contracts remain valid. Section 81 of the Companies Act 2006 says a change of name does not affect the company’s rights or obligations, and legal proceedings that could have been brought against the old name can be continued against the new one. You are the same legal person with the same company number, so there is nothing to novate and no need to re-sign anything.
That said, do the housekeeping. Notify counterparties in writing, quoting the company number and enclosing the certificate. Review long-form agreements, leases, debentures and franchise or licence terms for name-specific or notice clauses. Record the change by side letter on material contracts, register it against any registered titles at HM Land Registry, and update your contract templates, engagement letters and purchase orders.
Domains, website and email. Secure the new domain before you announce anything. Then set up 301 redirects from the old domain, migrate email addresses while keeping the old ones receiving for at least a year, reissue SSL certificates if the domain changes, and update your Google Business Profile, directory listings and social handles. Keep renewing the old domain rather than letting it lapse, both for the redirects and to stop someone else taking it.
The legal display rules. These are not optional. Your registered name must be displayed at your registered office and at any other premises where you carry on business, and disclosed on business letters, notices, order forms, invoices, receipts, cheques and demands for payment – and on your website. Business letters, order forms and your website must also show where the company is registered, its registered number and its registered office address. Failing to comply without reasonable excuse is an offence by the company and every officer in default, carrying a fine of up to £1,000 plus a daily default fine.
Everything else. Licences and regulator registrations, insurance policies, pension and payroll providers, leases and utilities, signage, stationery, vehicle livery, email signatures and your accounting software.
How to choose a name for your company
If you are choosing a replacement name rather than a first one, the checks that matter are the ones with teeth: availability on the Companies House index under the “same as” rules, and a clear search of the Intellectual Property Office trade mark register. A name that clears Companies House can still infringe a trade mark, and that is the mistake that costs money.
Beyond that, the useful tests are simple. Keep it short and spellable, because customers have to type it. Check it does not mean something unfortunate in the languages of any market you sell into. Avoid naming it after a trend that will date. And test it on people – ideally some existing customers, who will tell you what the name suggests and feel involved in the change.
How long does a company name change take?
Companies House aims to process most online filings within 24 hours, and a change of name is usually registered in that window. Paper filings take considerably longer, and a same-day service is available if you need the certificate immediately.
The filing is not the timeline that matters. Budget a few weeks for the follow-through: the bank takes days rather than hours, HMRC records update on their own schedule, and signage and print run to whatever your suppliers can manage.
What happens when a company changes its name?
Legally, very little. The company keeps its registration number, UTR, filing history, contracts, assets and liabilities. Only the name on the register changes.
Commercially, rather more. Most name changes accompany a rebrand, so the logo, website, stationery and marketing get rebuilt, and there is a communications job to do with customers who know you by the old name.
How much does it cost to change a company name?
The Companies House fees are:
Filing method
Fee
Online or software
£20
Paper form NM01
£30
Same day, online or software
£85
The filing fee is not the real cost. A new logo, a rebuilt or re-skinned website, new signage, print, packaging, vehicle livery and any professional advice on contracts or trade marks will comfortably exceed the £20 filing fee, often by a factor of hundreds. Budget for the rebrand, not the form.
Can a company change its name to avoid debt?
No. This is a persistent misconception. A name change does not touch the company’s liabilities – section 81 of the Companies Act 2006 makes that explicit – and creditors can pursue the renamed company exactly as before, using the same company number.
What people are usually describing is phoenixing: putting an insolvent company into liquidation and continuing the same business through a new one. Companies do not go bankrupt, incidentally – they become insolvent and enter liquidation or administration. And phoenixing is not one named offence. It is a pattern of behaviour that runs into several distinct legal problems, including wrongful trading, fraudulent trading, and the restriction on re-using a prohibited name.
That last one catches people directly. Under section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986, anyone who was a director or shadow director in the 12 months before an insolvent liquidation cannot, for five years, be involved in a company or business using the liquidated company’s name or a name so similar as to suggest a connection with it. Breaching it is a criminal offence carrying imprisonment, a fine, or both, and section 217 can make that person personally liable for the debts of the business that used the prohibited name. Limited exceptions exist, but they require the right steps at the right time – so take insolvency advice before you act, not after.
In summary
The filing is straightforward: pass a special resolution with a 75% majority, get the resolution and form NM01 to Companies House within 15 days, pay £20 online, and wait for the certificate. The change is legal from the date of that certificate and not a day earlier.
What needs planning is everything after. Bank first, then HMRC and your VAT record, then contracts and counterparties, then domains and the display rules on your website and invoices. Your company number and UTR do not change, so nothing needs re-signing – but plenty needs re-labelling, and the rebrand will dwarf the £20 you paid Companies House.
Changing a limited company’s name takes a 75% shareholder vote, one filing at Companies House and a fee of £20 online. It becomes legal only when Companies House issues your certificate of incorporation on change of name. The filing is the easy part. The work that follows – the bank, HMRC, your VAT record, your contracts, your domains and the legal display rules – is where companies actually come unstuck, so this guide covers the process, the real cost, and the full list of what you must update afterwards.
Your company name is the defining feature of your brand, but sometimes a change is necessary: a rebrand, a change of ownership, a merger, or simply a name that no longer fits what you sell. If you are in that position, the mechanics matter, because a name change that is filed correctly but never followed through leaves you invoicing under a name your bank does not recognise.
