Laws around 'Trading as'

[DazRave]

Hi guys, it's been awhile.

A business I work for is looking to simplify its name from the one that has been registered as a limited company.

I'm struggling to find a decent list of do's and don'ts in terms of where we can use a trading as name.

(not the real name) The business is called "Barry's Bats Ltd". The new brand name is now going to be just "Barry". Do we have to put "Barry's Bats Ltd trading as Barry" (which is a bit of a mouth full) in the footer of paperwork or will just the full limited name be sufficient (considering there's still a strong link between the registered name and trading name).

Any help, advice or pointers into the correct direction would be greatly appreciated!

Daz

 

[WaveJumper]

I have always been under the impression if using a trading name as part of carrying out business, a company is required legaley to display the appropriate information in all places where the business is carried out and, on all documentation, invoices and alike.
If Fred Limited is trading as Fred, this must be clear on a notice at their premises, on paperwork and website displaying – “Fred Limited trading as Fred “.

 

[DazRave]

So this was sort of my understanding too. However under that same logic that would mean even a shop sign would need to have "trading as" written on it right?

My main question really is does it have to actually say "trading as" or can it simply just state the full company name at the bottom. "trading as" sounds as though it's just a phrase used in case the trading name is completely different to the registered name.

I think to play it safe we'll just stick 'trading as' in the footer anyway, but I'd still like to find out what the actual rules are around this purely out of curiosity.

 

[WaveJumper]

Check out the rules at uk.gov on company names the use of, many companies would have a plaque on a wall somewhere in side of the premises one I I used to see all the time (before lockdown) was in the likes of Burger King. The trading 'name' if obviously on the outside of the building but the plaque inside states to which company it belongs etc etc

 

[AllUpHere]

Check out the rules at uk.gov on company names the use of, many companies would have a plaque on a wall somewhere in side of the premises one I I used to see all the time (before lockdown) was in the likes of Burger King. The trading 'name' if obviously on the outside of the building but the plaque inside states to which company it belongs etc etc

I haven't been in a Burger king for years, but remember those signs behind the counter. In other news, I now really, really fancy a Bacon double cheeseburger.

 

[WaveJumper]

I have been sitting here with my son talking about the same thing we really fancy a Whopper meal now and have come up with a cunning plan; wife has gone shopping in Chelmsford with a friend this morning so we just txt her our orders as she did say she would be back for lunch ............ a result

 

[WaveJumper]

So this was sort of my understanding too. However under that same logic that would mean even a shop sign would need to have "trading as" written on it right?

My main question really is does it have to actually say "trading as" or can it simply just state the full company name at the bottom. "trading as" sounds as though it's just a phrase used in case the trading name is completely different to the registered name.

I think to play it safe we'll just stick 'trading as' in the footer anyway, but I'd still like to find out what the actual rules are around this purely out of curiosity.

If you don't like the 'trading as" you could always word it like “[Trading Name] is the trading name of [Official Company Name]”.

 

[The Byre]

It would be prudent to trademark the new name and is £170 well spent. Before doing this, check that nobody is using anything like it and also check that no trademarks are similar.

The name of the registered Ltd. company and the registered address must be available somewhere sensible (e.g. T&Cs) together with a note stating that Barry is the registered trademark of Barry's Bats Ltd.

 

[DazRave]

Check out the rules at uk.gov on company names the use of, many companies would have a plaque on a wall somewhere in side of the premises one I I used to see all the time (before lockdown) was in the likes of Burger King. The trading 'name' if obviously on the outside of the building but the plaque inside states to which company it belongs etc etc

I had looked online quite a bit but nothing really states if the 'trading as' part is needed, just that the full ltd name is always required.

Ah yes, I always assumed those plaques were just Franchisee names and duty manager details though!

If you don't like the 'trading as" you could always word it like “[Trading Name] is the trading name of [Official Company Name]”.

This is a pretty dandy ideal actually. I'll have a play around with a few designs to get the best look.

Thanks for the help

 

[DazRave]

It would be prudent to trademark the new name and is £170 well spent. Before doing this, check that nobody is using anything like it and also check that no trademarks are similar.

The name of the registered Ltd. company and the registered address must be available somewhere sensible (e.g. T&Cs) together with a note stating that Barry is the registered trademark of Barry's Bats Ltd.

Thanks! This is similar to what I had found online, I was just curious as if the limited company name plus address etc was enough in the footer of letterheaded paper but I'm 100% going to play it safe and add some sort of trading as sentence.

 

[Chris Parkman]

WaveJumper is right. For my own business I say Purnells is a trading name of Corporate Recovery Specialists Limited at the bottom of my letterhead

 

[bwglaw]

Limited Companies are required to comply with the Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations which provide where a limited company must disclose its incorporated status. Failure to do so, not only risks breach of these regulations, but directors could be personally liable for some claims that would normally be protected by the incorporated status. I recall taking action against a firm of accountants that had one particular trading style but multiple limited companies and when one of the limited companies dissolved they attempted (but failed) to argue that the debt in question dissolved with the company, so the directors personally paid out.

 

[Alan]

Limited Companies are required to comply with the Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations which provide where a limited company must disclose its incorporated status.

Correct. But doesn't answer the OP's question.

As far as I know there is no reason to have 'Trading As' as long as the limited company full name appears on any formal documents as required by the Companies Act etc

Take for instance Howdens - their website logo / name and they refer to themselves as 'Howdens' but in small print in the footer is simply says 'Howdens Joinery Ltd'

Tesco, logo and refer to themselves as Tesco, but look at their T&C and see they are Tesco Stores Limited (Tesco, we or us) no wording saying trading as

Mercedes-Benz = Mercedes-Benz Cars UK Ltd -no trading as

etc etc etc

 

[bwglaw]

Correct. But doesn't answer the OP's question.

That depends how you read the OP's question.

The OP said:

A business I work for is looking to simplify its name from the one that has been registered as a limited company.

The OP said he was looking to "simplify its name" and my response, whilst it is acceptable to use trading styles, was to highlight the fact that a limited company must make minimum and specified disclosures, irrespective whether using a trading style or not. I have seen too many businesses make no reference to a proper legal entity - just because other well-known brands do not; does not mean they are complying. The trading styles of the brands you mention are sufficiently well-known, very similar to their legal entities and therefore unlikely to cause confusion. But not all trading styles are sufficiently well-known or similar to their actual legal entities, especially start-ups, small and micro businesses likely to be found on here.

There is little enforcement these days by the authorities in respect of trading disclosures but as I mentioned previously in a claim, one can discover they are not protected by their limited company status if not properly disclosed, so should use any trading styles fully and correctly.

 

[DazRave]

The OP said he was looking to "simplify its name"

When you strip everything else I said out then yeah perhaps your answer kind of makes sense. But you have also started to answer a question that wasn't even asked. The part you read was simply the context of why we were asking. The thing we wanted to know came afterwards:

"Do we have to put "Barry's Bats Ltd trading as Barry" (which is a bit of a mouth full) in the footer of paperwork or will just the full limited name be sufficient"

Correct. But doesn't answer the OP's question.

As far as I know there is no reason to have 'Trading As' as long as the limited company full name appears on any formal documents as required by the Companies Act etc

Take for instance Howdens - their website logo / name and they refer to themselves as 'Howdens' but in small print in the footer is simply says 'Howdens Joinery Ltd'

Tesco, logo and refer to themselves as Tesco, but look at their T&C and see they are Tesco Stores Limited (Tesco, we or us) no wording saying trading as

Mercedes-Benz = Mercedes-Benz Cars UK Ltd -no trading as

etc etc etc

This is actually really beneficial. It's funny how you use Howdens as an example too, as the real business this question was for often goes up against the likes of them. Thank you for your answer!

 

[cjd]

You don't need "trading as"

For example, you'll see us everywhere as Voipfone. But Voipfone is the product, iNet Telecoms Ltd is the company.

On our website's contact page shows our full name, registered address and company number.

We say this on our "About" page

About Us

iNet Telecoms® Ltd (Voipfone) is a UK company founded in 2004 to develop innovative Internet Telephone Services using the technologies of VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol.

So long as you do that on your website and invoices etc it's fine.

 

[Ozzy]

You could look at the footer of this website to see how we handle the trading name of UK Business Forums; and our flagship product for the company is eFiling (in fact our company name used to be eFiling Ltd but we changed it to Business Data Group 4 years ago). One the footer of that website and anywhere it's needed we use : Business Data Group Limited t/a eFiling.

The main thing is that you must not mislead anyway, and the real company name should always be easy to find and obtain.

 

[DazRave]

You could look at the footer of this website to see how we handle the trading name of UK Business Forums; and our flagship product for the company is eFiling (in fact our company name used to be eFiling Ltd but we changed it to Business Data Group 4 years ago). One the footer of that website and anywhere it's needed we use : Business Data Group Limited t/a eFiling.

The main thing is that you must not mislead anyway, and the real company name should always be easy to find and obtain.

This was really helpful. Thank's @Ozzy. It was also my understanding of what we could and couldn't do too.

My colleague (there's only two of us) who started the business wanted to be as careful as possible and kept pushing for having 'trading as' text littered everywhere... but for the brand we want to build it kind of made design tricky and very wordy.

Case closed on this now I think. Thanks all for your very helpful feedback.