Is the proposed company name already in use? Click Here:               The GO button above is a link to the Companies House Names Index. The index may be used to check whether the proposed company name, is the 'same as' a name which has already been registered. The link is not to suggest that UKcorporator has any association or affiliation with Companies House or any sponsorship from, or endorsement by, Companies House. The Companies House Names Index service only operates Monday to Saturday (except public holidays) and from 7 am to 12 midnight UK Time. Tips for using the Companies House Names Index After you click the GO button above, you should be taken to a page where you may enter your proposed company name and then proceed to search the Companies House Names Index (i.e. a database of existing company names). Make sure you have selected 'Current / recently dissolved names'. Click the 'Search' button and you will be taken to a page showing a vertically arranged list of names in the same alphabetical vicinity, as the name you entered. The Companies House system will automatically highlight, in yellow, the name which it regards as the nearest matching name to the one you entered. It may be legally 'the same' as the name you entered, or merely a close match. If it is legally 'the same' (see discussion below) then you need to select a different name for your proposed company as Companies House will reject your application seeking to register a company in that name. If however the name highlighted in yellow by Companies House is merely a close match but not legally 'the same', then Companies House is likely to accept your application to register a company in that name. Names regarded as legally 'the same' Section 26(3) of the Companies Act 1985 provides that for the purpose of determining whether one name is 'the same' as another, in this context, the following is to be disregarded: (a)  the definite article, (i.e. the word 'the') where it is the first word of the name; (b)  the following words and expressions where they appear at the end of the name, that is to say - 'company' or its Welsh equivalent ('cwmni'), 'and company' or its Welsh quivalent ('a'r cwmni'), 'company limited' or its Welsh equivalent ('cwmni cyfyngedig'), 'and company limited' or its Welsh equivalent ('a'r cwmni cyfyngedig'), 'limited' or its Welsh equivalent ('cyfyngedig'), 'unlimited' or its Welsh equivalent ('anghyfyngedig'), 'public company limited' or its Welsh equivalent ('cwmni cyfyngedig cyhoeddus'); 'investment company limited' or its Welsh equivalent ('cwmni buddsoddi a chyfalaf ewidiol'); and 'open-ended investment company' or its Welsh equivalent ('cwmni buddsoddiant penagored'); (c)  abbreviations of any of the abovementioned words or expressions where they appear at the end of the name; and (d)  type (e.g. font) and case of letters, accents, spaces between letters and punctuation marks. Furthermore, the Companies Act 1985 also provides that 'and' and '&' are to be taken as the same - section 26(3). So, for example, if the name 'Sands Limited' were already registered, each of the following names would be unavailable because each would be regarded as legally 'the same' as 'Sands Limited': 1.  Sands Public Company Limited (or P.L.C.) 2.  S and S Limited (or Ltd.) 3.  S and S Public Company Limited (or P.L.C.) 4.  S & S Limited (or Ltd.) 5.  Any of the above, with the addition of 'Company (or Co.)' or 'and (or &) Company (or Co.)'.