Companies House clarifies filing guidance over company names

Last year a missing company number on documents filed at Companies House left the government agency facing a £9m damages bill when it mistakenly filed a winding-up order against Welsh engineering company Taylor & Sons Limited rather than Manchester-based Taylor & Son Limited. The Welsh company was unable to recover from the financial repercussions of the erroneous filing and went into administration three months later.

The confusion between the two very similar company names could have been avoided if the documents filed by the Official Receiver had also contained the unique company number of Taylor & Son Limited rather than just its name.