Can a sole trader refer to his business as a company?
The Oxford English Dictionary states that a Company is: A business enterprise. For example: Smith & Co. The definition could well be derived from the word company, which can mean “being with another”. In Form filling, you often see the question: “What is your Company Name” – and you often only have that option in answering the questions on the Form which relate to “names of Companies”. Thus, I believe that you would not be legally misrepresenting yourself by giving your Company name as Joe Blogs. It would, however, be wrong to state that your Company was Joe Blogs Ltd, if you were not a registered Limited Company, i.e. not registered at Companies House. You could obtain further information from your local Trading Standards Office.
