Evening all. I'm hoping someone can answer a question for me. SWMBO will soon be starting her own business as a bookkeeper. Effectively she will be a "sole trader" and as such the advice regarding naming the business is to ensure that the chosen name is not the same or similar to any other local business and will not offend etc. Anyway is there a way she can protect her chosen trading name? Regards
She could start a company and give it her chosen name.
She would also have the protection of being a limited liability company.....
No-one else can use the name then - it dosn't cost much to do.
Cheers
Mark
http://www.ipo.gov.uk is your friend here. This is a self financing government office, so you will pay for the privilege
The alternative is forming a ltd co. This is a lot easier than is sounds, and has many "perks".
Edited to add bah 1 minute late
[Edited on 30/7/07 by clockwork]
companies house has a list of all the companies registered,goodish place to start
Many thanks for the replies. Regards
A little word of advice.
Ltd companies can also be more expensive as you will need to seperate out Corporation tax and income tax.
If you have an accountant then they will charge more for providing the returns you need.
I have a ltd company and it does cost me more to run but it can have good tax benefits if you are a high earner who would normally go into the 40%
tax bracket.
You will need to get proper advice from a Chartered Accountant to see if it is right for her.
[Edited on 30/7/2007 by nitram38]
Whatever name she uses will be protected as soon as she has been trading for a while.
I've operated through my own Ltd Co for the last 19years.
Don't listen to all the doom mongers, and go and do it. She can pay herself a minimal wage, and take the rest as dividends, for lower tax. The
Ltd.Co. also gives a degree of legal protection and distance.
Also, the tales of having to use a proper Chartered Accountant are WRONG!!!
If you are turning over less than £2M, then the accounts can be done by a competant bookkeeper (herself), and audited by an accountant if asked
for.
Far less expensive than what people may say.
It's the Chartered Accountants who carry on the myth that only they can do Ltd.Co Accounts, so don't get caught. (£150/hr for some poof in
a suit to look at numbers made up by his office technician is beyand a joke.)
My wife is a Management Accountant, and her accounts of my business are quite acceptable to the Tax Office and Companies House, and were when she was
an Accounting Technician, and a workmate put her name to the audit.
Cheers,
Syd. 
ive just read Duncan Bannatyne's book and interestingly he doesnt advocate the use of accountants either. He simply called the relevant government office, got free leaflets sent out and taught himself in the early days and business formation. Later, unsurprisignly, he employed people but his book is an interesting read.
quote:
Originally posted by Syd Bridge
..............£150/hr for some poof in a suit to look at numbers made up by his office technician is beyand a joke...................