When you change your business name, there’s a lot to work through, and sometimes it’s the tiny details we tend to forget. Things like voicemail because when do we ever to listen to our own voicemail, greeting?
Renaming your UK Limited Company is cheap and easy; a few clicks on Companies House, pay the £8.00 fee, and in a couple of days, it’s done. You have renamed your business.
Afterwards comes the harder part; updating everything.
If you’re about to change your company name, this checklist may come in handy.
| Tell your accountant. They’ll need to update your tax records unless you prefer to do it yourself. | |
Apps |
You’ll be surprised at how many you have. Address the business critical ones first and work leave the rest to work through later. |
Bank |
Make this a priority. Depending on your banking provider you may be able to do the update online or go into the branch. Either way, you’ll need your certificate from Companies House. |
Clients |
A name change is a great opportunity to contact your clients, especially the ones who haven’t been in touch for a while. |
Cloud accounting |
For users of cloud accounting like Xero or Quick Books, you’ll need to change the business name, logo and contact details in settings. |
Customers |
When your website is in place, your email is working, now’s the time to share it with your customers. |
Data Protection |
Update your Data Protection registration. This can be done via email to
registration@ico.org.uk |
Directory listings |
Update your listing with Google and Yell, Chambers of Commerce and any other memberships the business has. |
Domain name |
Before you change your company name, it’s a good idea to check the domain name you want is available too. You don’t want to change the name only to find out the domain name is taken.
Once your domain is set up, you can begin work on your website. This can be done in advance of notifying your customers and while you’re sorting everything else out. It’s a great opportunity to do a content audit and update pages. |
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Redirect your previous email to your new email account. It may help to add something to your email signature block to remind people about the changes. |
Insurance |
Do you have business insurance for public liability or professional indemnity? Get in touch with your broker or policy provider to get a revised certificate |
Linked in Company Page |
If you have a company page, Linked In will only accept minor changes to your business name. Where there’s a major name change, you may have to delete the page and create a new one. Linked In considers a minimal name change to be less than five continuous characters of your current business name. |
Marketing collateral |
Reprinting brochures envelopes, flyers, business cards, banners and etc. |
Merchant card or Paypal |
If you have a merchant bank account Stripe, business Paypal, update your business name and email settings |
Registered Office |
Make sure your new company name is changed on all legal documents. |
Subscriptions |
As a business, how many newsletters do you subscribe to? This is a great opportunity to do some housekeeping and perhaps unsubscribe from the ones no longer of interest. |
Terms and conditions |
Remember to change the details on your proposal letters, quotation templates, terms and conditions and privacy statements. |
Social |
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest; you’ll need to update them all but it’s very straightforward, and you don’t have to wait for ages for the changes to take effect.
For example, with Twitter, it’s straightforward to change in profile settings, and it will not affect your existing followers. They’ll just see your new username in the feed. |
Voicemail |
And finally, don’t forget your business voicemail. |
Can you think of any more? If so, let me know, and I’ll add them to my list.