Why Companies House is on the list#
If you are a director or secretary of a limited company, your name is on the public register at Companies House, and GOV.UK says you must tell Companies House about changes to directors and company secretaries, including changes to their personal details. A director who changes their name by deed poll and leaves the register alone will find the old name on every company search, on the confirmation statement and on the bank's records of who can sign for the company.
The same page lists the other changes a company must report, from a new registered office to changes in its people with significant control, and notes that some changes need a resolution. A director's change of name does not.
Filing it online#
GOV.UK's advice is to use the online service to update the company's information as quickly as possible. You need the email address and password used to sign up for WebFiling and the company's authentication code, which Companies House posts to the registered office if the company has not filed online before. Before using the service you may need to verify your identity through GOV.UK One Login, which gives you a personal code; you only verify once, and your code is in your Companies House account.
Companies in the PROOF scheme, which protects a company from paper filings it did not make, must file online.
Filing on paper#
Form CH01 is for a change to a director's name or address, and Companies House says it can only be used for those changes; appointing a director is form AP01. Form CH03 does the same for a company secretary. GOV.UK says it takes longer to process paper forms sent by post, and both forms say to use the online service where you can. Nationalities on the forms must come from Companies House's standard list.
What you do not send#
No copy of the deed poll is filed with either route; Companies House records the new name on the company's say-so. Keep the deed poll for the organisations that do ask to see it, such as the company's bank, which will want the signing authority updated in the new name.
Tell HMRC as well#
GOV.UK's Companies House page reminds companies that they may also need to tell HMRC. Your personal tax record is separate again: changing your name with HMRC is a five-minute job online.
