Where do you have to display your limited company name?

When running a limited company, it’s essential to understand your legal obligations as a director. One of the first is knowing where and how to properly display your company name in line with current regulations.

Displaying the company’s registered name

Under the terms of the Companies Act 2006, companies are required to display their name at their registered office, business locations, on documents, and their websites to clearly identify themselves to anyone dealing with them.

The rules also apply to any inspection place – the location where certain company records are kept and are available for inspection.

The details are included in the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015.

The registered name must also be displayed at locations where the company conducts business, subject to the exceptions below.

Some exceptions to this are as follows:

• You don’t have to display the company’s registered name at your home or any location which is mainly used as your living accommodation.
• A company that has been dormant at all times since incorporation does not have to display its name at its registered office or inspection place.
• If an administrator, receiver or liquidator has been appointed, the company does not have to display its registered name at a registered office or inspection place which is also a place of business of that insolvency practitioner.

Make sure your name is clearly visible

People are often surprised to learn that the regulations don’t require you to display the company name on the outside of the building or any other specified place on the property.

However, where a company name is required to be displayed, it must be positioned where any visitor can easily see it and the characters must be readable to the naked eye.

You must also display the name continuously unless you share the premises with six or more registered companies.

If that’s the case, then the registered name of each company must be kept on a register and be available for inspection as requested. Alternatively, each company should display its registered name once every three minutes for at least 15 seconds.

This display can be digital or rotating signage, as long as it meets the required intervals.

Stationery

It’s important that you also display the registered name of your company on the following:

• All your business letters, company publications and any notices you issue.
• Order forms and orders placed for services, goods and money that are signed by the company.
• Company cheques.
• Promissory notes, bills of exchange and endorsements.
• Invoices and demands for payments.
• Receipts.
• Letters of credit.
• Any other form of business correspondence, including business emails.

Company website and emails

You are required to display the registered name on all of your company websites.

The registered name doesn’t have to be displayed on every page, but should appear where it can be easily seen.

Common placements include the footer or “About Us” page.

Business letters and order forms sent electronically are subject to the same disclosure requirements as paper versions.

For business letters and order forms, you should therefore include the company’s registered number, registered office address and where the company is registered in the UK, as explained below.

Company information

In addition to displaying the company name, business letters, order forms and company websites must show the following information:

• Where your company is registered in the UK – England and Wales, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
• The company’s registered number.
• The company’s registered office address.
• The fact that the company is limited if it has been exempted from having to include ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’ in its registered name.
• If you choose to state an individual director’s name on a business letter, you must include the names of all the directors.
• Additional disclosures may apply to certain types of company, including community interest companies and investment companies.

If your company is registered for VAT, its VAT registration number must also be included on VAT invoices.

Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) must comply with similar disclosure rules, tailored to their structure.

For more information, read the current GOV.UK guidance on signs, stationery and promotional material.