Sole trader using "Co" in Trading name

Hello all ,

Im currently trading as a sole trader, i have a registered name but im revising it and it will include "co" at the end. ok i know im not a registered company but i would expect to be in a year or so.its been done as part of a branding overhaul and to market the trendy sector if you see what i mean.

Is there any problem in doing this ?

many thanks

It could be quite misleading eg for those checking your financial background / company status etc. However, as long as you do not suggest your business registration number is your company registration number , then you may be ok. You would get in to deep water for impersonatiing / using someone elses company reg no., I would imagine.

As I understand it, as long as you do not put ltd. in your name, you are okay. Ltd. is legally defined as a limited company (i.e. a registered company in my simplethink). You can be a private company as much as you like.

If you do a search on the CRO database at www.cro.ie ,online services, company search, business names , you will see a lot of business names registered like Joe Bloggs & company or ABC & Company. These are business names and reflect among them names registered by sole-traders or partnerships. There is no problem registering a business name to include the word company. However one cannot use the word Limited or Ltd as to do so might imply the company was Limited ( in some form such as by shares or by guraantee). Remember Registering a business name does not protect against duplication.

Thats great thanks - was thinking along those lines but just unsure ,

And no i wont in any way be trying to mislead people in any way

thanks

I would recommend double-checking with business names section in the CRO. I think it should be fine, but certain words & phrases aren't permitted in business names e.g. limited, .com, .ie, etc.

As an aside if you are engaged in any sort of risky venture there are more advantages in using a limited company now than there has been in the best. A few of my clients have recently been saved from personal bankruptcy by having traded through a limited company. Seek professional advice.

CompanyForm said:

I would recommend double-checking with business names section in the CRO. I think it should be fine, but certain words & phrases aren't permitted in business names e.g. limited, .com, .ie, etc.

Click to expand...

There is absolutely no restriction on using a domain name (.com, .ie, .uk or otherwise) in a Registered Business name or Company name. There are already 897 ".com" company/business names and 2179 ".ie" company/business names registered with the CRO, according to the statistics available in http://www.vision-net.ie's Free Services section.

Of course, you can't use Limited/Ltd in your name unless it is a Limited company.

Read the rules here:
http://www.cro.ie/ena/business-registration.aspx
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