income from the enforced payment of taxes and Council
Tax.
Also in this category, and requiring the consent of the
Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform, are names which imply a national or interna-
tional connection, such as ‘The International Metal Co’,
and names which imply that the organisation is in some
way distinguished, e.g. ‘Society’ or ‘Institute’. Words which
imply the carrying on of a specific function also require
BERR permission, e.g. ‘Insurance’ and ‘Building Society’.
This will not be obtained unless those functions are the
ones which the organisation carries out.
(b)Under a sensitive name unless the relevant body agrees.
A comprehensive list can be found on Companies House
website.
The use of the word ‘Charity’ requires the permission
of the Charity Commissioners. Regulations in 1992 have
made it clear that plural or possessive forms of sensitive
names are included. So ‘Charities’ and ‘Charities’’ are
controlled.
(c)Under obscene names such as ‘Hookers & Co’ or
names obtained by deception, as where a person is using
the word ‘charity’ having got permission from the Char-
ity Commissioners following the submission of false
or misleading information about the functions of the
organisation.
3 Disclosure of true owner’s name: what must be
disclosed? A user of a business name must disclose his
or her name together with a business or other address
in Great Britain. This is to enable documents, such as
claim forms to commence a legal claim, to be served at
that address.
However, the High Court ruled in Department of Trade
and Industry v Cedenio(2001) that the address need
not be pointed up specifically as the address for serving
documents. Section 4 of the Business Names Act 1985
provides merely for the stating of an address as follows:
‘an address in Great Britain at which the service of
any document relating in anyway to the business will be
effective’. This wording is retained by s 1165 of the 2006
Act and so Cedeniois still a valid case.
4 Where must the information be disclosed?
(a)In a clear and readable way on all business letters,
written orders for the supply of goods or services, invoices
and receipts issued by the business, and written demands
for the payment of money owed to the business.(b)Prominently, so that it can be easily seen and read
in any premises where the business is carried on, but
only if customers or suppliers of goods or services go on
to those premises.(c)Disclosure must also be made immediately and in
writing to anybody with whom business is being done or
discussed if the person concerned asks for the informa-
tion. This would mean, for example, giving the informa-
tion on, say, a business card, to a salesman to whom an
order was being given or discussed if the salesman asks
for the names of the owners of the business.5 What happens if an owner does not comply with the
law? A sole trader who does not obey the law commits a
criminal offence and is liable to a fine. On the civil side
he may not be able to enforce his contracts, for example
to sue successfully for debts owed to him. This will be so
where, for instance, the other party to the contract can
show if he is sued that he has been unable to bring a
claim against the business because of lack of knowledge
of the name and address of the owner.
Suppose that Freda Green trades as ‘Paris Fashions’ in
Lancashire and supplies Jane Brown with dresses for her
boutique in Yorkshire, but without giving Jane Brown
any idea that she, Freda Green, owns Paris Fashions.
Suppose, further, that Freda moves her business to Kent
and Jane Brown finds that the dresses are substandard
and wants to return them, but cannot because she does
not know where ‘Paris Fashions’ has gone. If Jane is sued
for non-payment by Freda, the court may refuse Freda’s
claim, though the judge has a discretion to enforce it if
in the circumstances he thinks it is just and equitable to
do so.Protection of business names
The fact that there is no registration of business names
places businesses that use them in a more difficult posi-
tion in terms of protecting the name than companies
that trade in their corporate names (see further, Chap-
ter 6 ). As we shall see, the Registrar keeps an index of
company names and a company cannot be registered in
a name that is the ‘same’ as a name already on the index.
In addition, the Secretary of State can direct a company
to change its name within 12 months of registration if
it is ‘too like’ the name of a company on the index. ThePart 2Business organisations