Sensitive words for UK company formations

Some words are classed as sensitive by Companies House. Consequently, they will not form nor change the name of a company if the name contains one of these words. However, some words would be accepted if the own name company registration is accompanied by a letter of justification for the use of that name. Specifically, if your company name is to include any of the words "group", "holdings", or "international" (or common variations of these words) then you will need to submit a letter of justification. Templates for these can be found at the bottom of this page.

For other sensitive words, the relevant regulatory board would need to be contacted. For example to use the word "optician" or "optometrist", The Registrar General Optical Council would need to be contacted.

For more information, please contact us.

Please note that plurals of the words listed are also classed as sensitive.

Once you have checked that your desired company name doesn't have any sensitive words in, you can check to see if it is available.

Template letters for names including "group", "holdings", or "international"

Download the appropriate template letter, modify it to suit your company details, print it out on company headed notepapre and post or fax it to us when you submit your company order.

• Justification for the use of the word "group" (RTF file - 1MB)
• Justification for the use of the word "holding" (RTF file - 8kB)
• Justification for the use of the word "international" (RTF file - 11kB)

Once you have checked that your desired company name doesn't have any sensitive words in, you can check to see if it is available.

Keywords: sensitive words, UK limited company formation, Companies House, own name company registration