Is your business one of thousands that has rights to a .uk domain?

If so, time is running out if you wish to register it for your company to use.

In 2014 the .uk registry introduced a shorter, sharper, (and some say, ‘snappier’), domain name, www.mybusinessname.uk to sit alongside the current options.

If you registered a .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .plc.uk, or ltd.uk domain before 29 October 2013, the matching .uk domain may have been reserved for your company until 25 June 2019. So, for example, the owner of www.mybusinessname.co.uk would have the rights to www.mybusinessname.uk. By registering it now, you can start to put your .uk domain to use straightaway. For example, you could use it for a sub-brand, product category or special marketing campaign.

However, you need to act before the 25 June deadline in order to protect your .uk domain.

On 1 July 2019 any .uk domains found unregistered will be released into the public arena,  becoming available for anyone to claim, be it a competitor, a namesake or investor. Additionally, if you do not renew your qualifying domain (.co.uk, .me.uk or org.uk), you will also lose the right to the matching .uk.

You can easily check if you have a reserved .uk domain by entering your company’s current website address into the search box on:

https://www.theukdomain.uk/do-i-have-uk-rights/

You will then be shown one of three options which will clarify whether you have the rights to your equivalent .uk domain name and if you can register for it. Alongside this, the website also provides a comprehensive list of FAQs which answers a range of questions from ‘what do I do next?’; ‘what do I do if I want to register for a domain currently reserved for someone else?’ to ‘what happens if I don’t register?’.

But note - if you registered your .’co.uk’ domain name in the last five years, you won’t have the right to register the .uk equivalent, (this is because only domain names that were registered before 29 Oct 2013 acquired the rights).

For those of you who do not wish to take up your .uk domain, then no action is required and your existing domain will be unaffected and continue as usual.

If you do wish to take advantage of your reserved .uk domain and would like our help with the next steps, please contact your Net Technical Solutions Account Manager who will be happy to advise.