Part 1: Companies House Reform Company names Section 13: Directions to change name: period for compliance
At present the Companies Act 2006 leaves it to the discretion of the Secretary of State to determine the time period within which a company must comply with a direction to change its name. This section inserts provisions into various sections of the Companies Act 2006, in some cases providing for substitute subsections. In total, they standardise the various direction issuing powers found in Part 5 of the Companies Act 2006 and those that are inserted by this Act.
	This section sets the period for compliance in these direction issuing powers at 28 days from the date of the direction whilst, in certain circumstances, giving the Secretary of State discretion to extend that 28-day period. This section also makes changes which provide that, where a company has been directed to change a name which gives a misleading indication of its activities, the company has three weeks from the date of the direction to apply to the court for it be quashed and it can continue to use the name until the court has made its decision.