This generates direct search links for each name — it doesn't run the checks itself, since Companies House, the IPO, and social platforms don't offer that kind of open access. You'll still need to look at each result yourself, but this saves you building six searches by hand for every name.
If a name is identical, or "same as" another company already on the register (differences like punctuation, "The", "Ltd"/"Limited", or plurals are usually ignored), your registration will simply be rejected. This is the only check that gives you a clean yes/no answer.
Companies House checks the company name register, not the UK trademark register. You can successfully incorporate a company with a name that infringes someone else's registered trademark — and still be forced to rebrand, or face a legal claim, once they notice. Always check the trademark register separately, and search for the name generally to see if an established competitor already trades under it, trademarked or not.
A taken domain or handle won't stop you registering or trading under a name, but it makes building a consistent brand harder and can send customers to the wrong place. Worth checking early, but it's a business decision, not a compliance one.
This tool only generates search links — it can't tell you whether a name is actually clear, and a name passing every check today doesn't guarantee it'll still be available by the time you register. Trademark searches in particular take real judgement: near-identical names in the same trade category can infringe even if they're not spelled the same way. For anything beyond a straightforward search, or if you're planning to build a serious brand around the name, a trademark attorney or IP solicitor is worth the cost before you commit to it publicly.
Picking a business name usually means checking the same handful of places — Companies House, the UK trademark register, a domain registrar, and two or three social platforms — and doing it separately for every name idea gets tedious fast. This tool builds those searches for you: enter a name, and it generates direct links to check it against the Companies House register, the gov.uk trademark search, Namecheap for domain availability, and Instagram, X, and TikTok for handle availability.
It's built around a genuinely common mistake worth flagging upfront: a name being available to register as a company doesn't mean it's free to trade under. Those are two different checks against two different registers, and skipping the trademark one is how businesses end up rebranding a year in.
Often yes, mechanically — Companies House only blocks names that are identical or nearly identical to another registered company, not trademarks. But successfully registering the company doesn't give you any right to trade under that name if it infringes someone's trademark in your sector; the trademark holder can still take action to stop you using it.
Companies House ignores certain differences when comparing names — things like "Limited" vs "Ltd", "&" vs "and", punctuation, and plurals don't count as making a name different. Beyond that, a name just needs to not be identical to get past registration, but truly similar names can still attract a formal objection from an existing company after the fact.
Not automatically necessary for every small business, but worth serious consideration if the name is central to your brand and you're planning to invest in marketing around it. A registered trademark gives you the right to stop others using a confusingly similar name in your sector — without one, you're relying on a weaker, harder-to-prove "passing off" claim if someone else starts trading under a similar name later.