Parts of the Companies Act come into force at the start of
October. While many of the new laws cover existing ground without
any changes there are some changes to the rules on the display of
company names.
The new rules say that a company's name must be displayed
continuously in a way that is visible to the naked eye in a way
that it "may be easily seen by any visitor to that office, place or
location", according to the Companies (Trading Disclosures)
Regulations 2008.
An exception in the rules provides that the company's name does
not have to be displayed at a location which is primarily used for
living accommodation.
Where one location is shared by six companies or more, a company
can display its name in a non-continuous way. Those firms could use
electronic displays rotating the display of the names, but the
manner in which that can happen is tightly controlled.
"The registered name shall be displayed continuously but where
any such office, place or location is shared by six or more
companies, each such company is only required to display its
registered name for at least fifteen continuous seconds at least
once in every three minutes," said the Regulations.
It is only possible to fit 12 periods of 15 seconds into a three
minute slot, so any shared buildings with more than 12 companies
would have to have a second rotating display.
The Regulations dictate how a company must display its name:
"Any display or disclosure of information required by these
Regulations must be in characters that can be read with the naked
eye. […] The registered name shall be so positioned that it may be
easily seen by any visitor to that office, place or location".
A company will be required to display its registered name at its
registered office, unless it has been dormant since incorporation;
and also at any 'inspection place'. The latter requirement means
that places where records are stored by a company must be
identified.
"'Inspection place' means any location, other than a company’s
registered office, at which a company keeps available for
inspection any company record which it is required under the
Companies Acts to keep available for inspection," said the
Regulations.
The requirements of the 1985 Companies Act which these parts of
the Regulations replace were slightly different. They demanded that
companies display their registered names "on the outside of every
office or place in which its business is carried on, in a
conspicuous position an din letters easily legible".
The new Regulations no longer require that the name be displayed
on the outside of a building.
The Regulations also spell out the requirement for companies to
display their registered name and other details on websites,
business letters and emails and in certain other company
documentation. The Regulations replace 2006 Regulations which
required the same thing.
