STARTING WITH ANEW NAME?HERE'S WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS

Not wanting the old name removes the Section 216 restriction entirely — there's no court application, no Gazette notice, no waiting period. But the underlying sale of the business and its assets to you, a connected party, still needs to be handled properly.

The Liquidator has a duty to get the best price reasonably obtainable for creditors, and a sale to a departing Director attracts far more scrutiny than a sale to a genuine stranger.

Goodwill is the value of a business as a going concern, over and above its physical assets — things like customer relationships, supplier relationships, staff know-how, and reputation.

Dropping the old trading name usually reduces the goodwill figure, since brand recognition is often a meaningful part of it — but it rarely reduces it to nothing. Customer relationships, contracts, and know-how can still carry real value even under a new name.

Selling the business or its assets to yourself — or anyone connected to you — for less than a genuine, defensible price can be challenged later as a transaction at an undervalue.

Liquidators will usually commission an independent valuation of the assets and any goodwill before agreeing a sale to a connected party, specifically to protect the price from being questioned afterwards.

Payment is usually a lump sum agreed against the independent valuation, though a structured arrangement over time isn't unusual where the figure is significant.

Whatever the structure, it needs to be commercially justifiable — the same test the Liquidator's own conduct will be judged against later.