names.co.uk
★★★★★ 2.0 · 61 Reviews
What is names.co.uk?
names.co.uk (formerly known as Namesco) is a leading British internet services provider that offers online solutions for SMEs and individuals. It specialises in domain name registration, web hosting, email hosting, website builders, ecommerce applications and dedicated servers. Recent additions to its product range include an online booking tool, as well as a digital compliance and accessibility solution. It is notable for offering free .co.uk and .uk domains, as well as a UK-based support team. Since 2019 names.co.uk has been the principal UK brand of team.blue, a European group of technology companies that helps entrepreneurs and established businesses achieve their online ambitions. Collectively, the group operates across 22 countries, manages over 5 million domains and has more than 3 million customers. Products and services Domain names: As a British domain registrar, names.co.uk specialises in UK-specific domain extensions, such as .co.uk, .uk and .org.uk. These are often available to register for one year free of charge on their website. It can also register any other type of domain extension, including .com, with many of them being available on multi-year billing terms. Email hosting: names.co.uk offers a number of choices for email hosting, ranging from a single mailbox for a small business, through to multi-user packages for large corporations. All of them offer unlimited email addresses and the ability to view emails either via a mail client or an online Webmail interface. Web hosting: A range of options are available for those looking to host their own website. These include WordPress (both Managed and Unmanaged), WooCommerce and WePanel, as well as options for resellers. Dedicated servers: For larger businesses or more high-end use cases, names.co.,uk also offers dedicated and VPS servers. These are all hosted in the company’s 50,000 square foot datacentre in the heart of the Thames Valley. AI website builder: Aimed primarily at sole traders and small businesses, the company’s website builder software allows the simple creation of a basic website. An AI wizard can automatically choose a suitable pre-created template based on the needs of the user. Automatic generation of written content is also available from a few simple prompts. Online booking: In 2025 names.co.uk partnered with SimplyBook.me, another team.blue brand, to offer their online booking tool. This allows service providers to easily add appointment scheduling functionality to their existing website or social channels. It also comes with a smartphone app that can be used to manage bookings, as well as receive them. Compliance & accessibility: Another recent addition, from fellow team.blue brands Iubenda and AccessiWay, includes a complete digital compliance tool. This can generate various legal policies for website owners. As well as cookie and privacy policies, it also offers an accessibility tool for disabled users, helping business owners meet their responsibilities under the European Accessibility Act.
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names.co.uk Reviews (61)
- ★★★★★13
- ★★★★★2
- ★★★★★2
- ★★★★★2
- ★★★★★42
Review Summary
Generated using AI from real user reviews
Names.co.uk receives overwhelmingly negative reviews, with serious issues around customer service, billing practices, and service reliability dominating complaints.
Users consistently report unresponsive support, with wait times exceeding an hour on phone lines and support tickets going unanswered for days or closing without resolution. Multiple reviewers describe being charged unexpectedly for auto-renewals they disabled, domain renewals on expired cards, and renewal fees that spike dramatically after initial registration. Several users highlight unfair transfer and admin fees (£10–£12 to move domains away), with complaints that these charges are not transparent upfront. Email and hosting outages appear regularly across reviews, with some users reporting service down for 12+ hours, directly costing them business.
A small cluster of five-star reviews praise individual staff members by name—particularly an account manager called Jordan—and note good long-term relationships with the company. These positive reviews stand in stark contrast to the volume of criticism and suggest experience varies sharply depending on who handles an account.
Beyond service failures, reviewers report unclear billing, mysterious charges, confiscation of contact details sold to third parties, and an outdated control panel that makes self-service difficult. The company's acquisition of legacy services (UKServers, Freeparking, Demon email) appears to have introduced fresh complaints about lost functionality and forced migrations. Several users describe the company as deliberately predatory or fraudulent.
★★★★★
Thursday, September 13, 2018
“Awful company and I am ashamed I to say I…”
Awful company and I am ashamed I to say I used to work for them! The reason I left was the attitude of the staff to their customers, one or two are okay and try to help. Their atttitude is 'we have them signed up, what they gonna do if they don't like what we say'. The reason I left b cause more often or not I cringed at what I heard on the phone especially from the Domain Admin side and management. Believe me there are far better companies out there
★★★★★
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
“This would be zero if I could give it. email…”
This would be zero if I could give it. email services down too often The last 2 times it was down it was more than half a day. Now it's down again. How do you run a business with no email. As soon as I get a window of slacker time I'll be transferring to a more reliable provider
★★★★★
Thursday, August 9, 2018
“email down again, happens too often and costing me business.”
email down again, happens too often and costing me business.
★★★★★
Friday, May 11, 2018
“Would be zero star if i could. They absolutely suck,…”
Would be zero star if i could. They absolutely suck, and i will be migrating all of my business to a new service provider asap. Basically, their domain registration service is too slow. I missed out on a prime domain because someone else registered it 10 hours after i did but managed to gazump me. Customer dis-service is arrogant and quite frankly useless. Avoid at all costs,
★★★★★
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
“DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Their customer service is lousy,…”
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Their customer service is lousy, their products are over-priced and they are not transparent about their pricing. We were migrated over from UKServers and lost functionality that we were not told about. When we logged it as a technical problem they told us we had to upgrade to get that functionality back.
★★★★★
Friday, April 6, 2018
“Don't touch these idiots, they will destroy your business and…”
Don't touch these idiots, they will destroy your business and charge you for doing it.
★★★★★
Thursday, March 29, 2018
“Will hold your domains hostage with large renewal and transfer…”
Will hold your domains hostage with large renewal and transfer fees, they are NOT transparent about pricing. Has an antiquated control panel making it slow and awkward to manage your domain(s). Will threaten you with legal action for defamation if you voice your opinion. Would score 0 stars but this site will not let me.
★★★★★
Monday, March 26, 2018
“When Namesco took over UKServers I have been forcibly off-line…”
When Namesco took over UKServers I have been forcibly off-line more than on-line. At random times throughout the day I will be said to be off-line. The last episode lasted from Sat 24 am to 10am today Sun 25. Their phone helpline involves a 60 mins wait, although I now give up. It worked fine with UKServers. To be told (by them) that this wretched company is the biggest and best is the last straw. I suffered from the email 'bounce-back' they mention on their status page, which now reports gleefully "no incidents" for the past few days. Rubbish.
★★★★★
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
“Do not purchase your domain names from here unless you…”
Do not purchase your domain names from here unless you are willing to page over the odds. If you decide later that you wish to move your domain names away to another provider it will cost you £12 inc vat. NO OTHER domain seller dupes you like this. DO NOT BUY DOMAINS FROM HERE
★★★★★
Monday, December 11, 2017
“Poor web builder. Got this as a simple members support…”
Poor web builder. Got this as a simple members support site paid upfront for what was supposed to be a years cost then received monthly invoice. thought i'd try a new provider. There is no where to delete domain and account. Unacceptable. No email to confirm there will be subscription costs or additionals. I own 2 other websites with one.com and all additional costs are confirmed up front, web builder is easy, customer support is almost instant. and they are cheaper too.
