The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

These Regulations bring together practical rules on company names, business names and trading disclosures. In day-to-day terms, they affect what a business can call itself and what company details must be shown when a company trades.

For most businesses, the main risk points are incorporation, renaming, rebranding, use of a trading name, website footers, invoices, order forms, letters and office signage. If you only check your Companies House filing and ignore your trading documents or premises, you can still miss important compliance steps.

The Regulations cover several different groups, and the rules are not identical for each one. Part 2 deals with company names for companies registered under the Companies Act 2006. Part 4 applies certain naming rules to overseas companies registered in the UK.

Part 5 is wider. It restricts the names under which a person may carry on business in the United Kingdom. That means the business name rules are not limited to incorporated companies.

Part 6 is about trading disclosures by companies. These are the rules that require a company to display or disclose its registered name and other details at premises, on documents and on websites.

LLPs are not covered by every part in the same way. Part 3 mainly applies regulation 9 to LLPs and makes amendments to the LLP application regulations.

Regulation 2 sets the permitted characters for a company name. A company name must not contain more than 160 permitted characters, and blank spaces count towards that total.

The Regulations also control words, expressions and abbreviations that suggest a particular legal form or company type. Schedule 2 contains the protected wording. The practical point is simple: do not use wording that suggests a status or structure your business does not actually have.

There are also special rules for private companies limited by guarantee that may be exempt from the requirement to end their name with "limited" or a permitted alternative, provided the conditions in regulation 3 are met.

Regulation 7 and Schedule 3 explain how the registrar decides whether one name is the same as another in the index of company names. This matters because a name can still be treated as the same even if it looks different in branding terms.

The comparison rules can disregard or equate certain differences. In practical terms, punctuation, symbols, spacing and minor tweaks may not be enough to create a distinct registrable name.

Long names need extra care. For the comparison exercise, certain characters after the first 60 permitted characters may be disregarded.

Regulation 8 allows a proposed same name in a limited group situation. This is not a general workaround. The existing company or other body whose name is already in the registrar's index must consent, the new company must form or be intended to form part of the same group, and the required statement must be provided to the registrar.

The registrar may accept that statement as sufficient evidence that the conditions are met. If consent is later withdrawn, that does not undo the registration.

Part 5 is easy to overlook because many businesses focus only on their registered company name. That is a mistake. These rules restrict the name under which a person may carry on business in the UK.

Under regulation 16, a person must not carry on business under a name ending with limited-status wording unless they fall within one of the permitted categories listed in that regulation. Under regulation 17, a person must not carry on business under a name that includes listed expressions or abbreviations indicating a company, partnership, grouping or organisation unless that description is true.

So if you trade under a brand, shop name or website name that differs from your registered company name, review that trading name on its own.

Regulations 9 and 18 deal with names likely to give the impression of a connection with a specified public authority. Schedule 4 lists the relevant public authorities and the department or other body whose view must be sought.

The key point is legal framing. The Regulations do not create a separate approval by that listed department or body. Instead, in connection with an application for Secretary of State approval, the applicant must seek the view of the department or body listed opposite the relevant public authority in Schedule 4.

This issue can arise with names that sound governmental, official, regulatory or publicly endorsed. It is worth checking early, before you file an application or launch branded materials.

Part 6 contains the trading disclosure rules for companies. Regulation 20 says any required display or disclosure must be in characters that can be read with the naked eye.

Under regulation 21, a company must display its registered name at its registered office and any inspection place. There are exceptions, including for a company that has at all times since incorporation been dormant, and certain insolvency-related situations.

Under regulation 22, a company must also display its registered name at any other location where it carries on business. Again, there are exceptions. For example, the rule does not apply to a location primarily used for living accommodation.

Regulation 23 sets out how the registered name must be displayed where a company is required to show it at an office, place or location.

If no more than five companies share the location, the registered name must be positioned so that any visitor can easily see it, and it must be displayed continuously.

If six or more companies share the location, each company must either display its registered name for at least 15 continuous seconds at least once every three minutes, or make it available for inspection on a register by any visitor.

These rules are especially relevant for serviced offices, coworking spaces and group businesses sharing one site.

Regulation 24 requires every company to disclose its registered name on a wide range of communications and documents. This includes business letters, notices and official publications, bills of exchange, promissory notes, endorsements, order forms, cheques, orders for money, goods or services, invoices, receipts, demands for payment, applications for licences and all other forms of business correspondence and documentation. The registered name must also appear on the company's websites.

Regulation 25 requires further particulars on business letters, order forms and websites. These are the part of the UK in which the company is registered, the company's registered number and the address of its registered office.

Some companies must also state additional status information, such as that they are a limited company in the cases specified by regulation 25, or that they are an investment company within section 833 where relevant.

If a company with share capital states the amount of its share capital on business letters, order forms or websites, the disclosure must be to paid up share capital.

Regulation 26 deals with business letters that include a director's name. If a business letter includes the name of any director other than in the text or as a signatory, the letter must disclose the name of every director of the company.

Regulation 27 gives a business contact a right to ask for certain location information. If a person the company deals with in the course of business makes a written request, the company must disclose the address of its registered office, any inspection place, and the type of company records kept there. The company must send a written response within five working days.

Under regulation 28, failure without reasonable excuse to comply with regulations 20 to 27 is an offence by the company and every officer in default. A shadow director is treated as an officer for this purpose.

On summary conviction, the instrument provides for a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale and, for continued contravention, a daily default fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 3 on the standard scale.

For most businesses, the best approach is a simple compliance audit whenever you incorporate, rebrand, move premises, change your website or update customer documents.

The Regulations were made on 7 January 2015 and came into force on 31 January 2015. They have been amended since then.

Before acting for a live naming or disclosure decision, check whether later amendments affect your exact situation, especially if you are dealing with a specialist entity type, an overseas company, an LLP, a public-authority style name or a recent registered office issue.