Ltd or Limited, and or &

[steve23]

Hi all,

I'm looking at a company name for my partnership - im wondering if 'and' or '&' and 'ltd' or 'limited' makes any difference or are they the same? For example...

Mark and Webster Ltd
Mark & Webster Limited
Mark and Webster Limited
Mark & Webster Ltd

Are they all the same and you can change as you wish, or do you have to 'stick' with whatever companies house has you listed as ?

Thanks

 

[Lisa Thomas]

They are not the same.

They are all slightly different and therefore there could be 4 completely different Companies using those 4 different names with 4 different businesses (although unlikely).

You will have to publish the Company name as it is recorded at C House, although you could use a different trading name.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

have a look here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...d-names/incorporation-and-names#choosing_name

 

[dotcomdude]

Hi all,
Are they all the same and you can change as you wish, or do you have to 'stick' with whatever companies house has you listed as ?

Companies house will UPPER CASE anything you register, but you are free to decide your own case when you put it on your stationery/website etc.

From their perspective Limited and Ltd are different, so just be sure which one you prefer before you go for registration.

& and AND are different...

 

[steve23]

Thanks for the replies, that helps a lot.

I get Ltd and Limited being different but it surprises me about & and 'and'.

If you went for '&' it would be a pain in the butt to write freehand !

Given that, im sure companies that use '&' would revert to 'and' when they really needed to (which, ok, in this day and age of keyboards would be rare) so that's why im surprised its different.

Food for thought, thanks again

 

[mattk]

You cannot have & in domain names, if that is a factor?

 

[steve23]

That's another good point mattk ! Looking at the companies house doc, im still not clear either way if '&' and 'and' are interchangeable

 

[steve23]

I just found this on the web, so is the info above correct - now I am confused !!

There is no official difference. The full word and abbreviation both mean exactly the same thing, so you can use either version. Your choice will only affect the way your registered company name is displayed on your incorporation documents. However, Companies House always registers and records company names in capitals and never produces certificates of incorporation in lower case. During the life of your company, you can use whichever version and letter case you prefer on your company stationery and websites.

 

[Gecko001]

As Lisa has said you can use a trading name.. You can use "Mark & Webster" as a trading name and have "Mark and Webster Ltd" as the Company House name for example. But if you have a trading name, you must have, as well, the name as registered with Company House (in lower case if you want) on all business correspondence, invoices and websites.

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

https://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/ltd-vs-limited-what-is-the-difference.306993/

If Limited you can use Ltd - interchangeable