179.This section replaces section 28(1) of the 1985 Act. Under the existing provision, companies can only change their names:
by special resolution; or
following a direction by the Secretary of State in the restricted circumstances provided by section 31 of the 1985 Act, which apply only to companies exempt from their name concluding in “limited.”
180.This section also provides for the following means:
whatever means are provided in the company’s articles (this means that the company will be able to determine the procedures for changing its own name);
by an order of the company names adjudicator if an objection under section 73 is upheld, or by a court following an appeal against the adjudicator’s decision under section 74; and
under section 1033 on the company’s restoration to the register.