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.
★★★★★
Monday, November 20, 2017
“worst experience in restrictions in website building. Emails allowances and…”
worst experience in restrictions in website building. Emails allowances and charges. certainly would not recommend it. poor in uploading forms as well
★★★★★
Monday, November 20, 2017
“They charge £10 VAT per domain to transfer away from…”
They charge £10 VAT per domain to transfer away from them... SHOCKING!!! after registering a domain i started receiving phone calls and emails from a company in India about web design and seo services which i did not request! i can conclude that names.co.uk had passed my contact details on! FURIOUS!!!
★★★★★
Monday, August 7, 2017
“I hav been with Namesco for some years now and…”
I hav been with Namesco for some years now and they host 5 business sites for me. One site has a fair amount of traffic. Their support is OK but I have suffered a bundle of frustrations with them. The shared platforms had significant restrictions of file sizes and POST variables etc. On one nightmare occasion they shut down one of my sites, without notice, and forced me to a VPS service. I have since had to move the platform again and the latest incarnation is slow, sometimes horribly slow. I need to face up to a dedicated server but it will not be with Namesco.
★★★★★
Friday, August 4, 2017
“Always been happy with Namesco until now. Since the last…”
Always been happy with Namesco until now. Since the last domain I purchased off them yesterday, I have been absolutely inundated with emails and telephone calls from India offering me website services. Seems that now you have to purchase domain privacy at an added cost to stop this happening. Never had this before and it appears that Namesco are passing customer details over to India deliberately.
★★★★★
Sunday, July 2, 2017
“I always wanted my own blog but i hadn't a…”
I always wanted my own blog but i hadn't a clue where to start so i just called with a million questions and luckily I got through to Mike who has been amazing! I don't have a notion about techy stuff but he sorted me out with a name for my site and a matching email straight away and i'm even going to try make my own website... havnt started yet so not sure how that will go! I'd defo recommend chatting to them if you don't know where to start :)
★★★★★
Thursday, June 22, 2017
“Having transferred from another hosting company it was really refreshing…”
Having transferred from another hosting company it was really refreshing to speak to a patient, knowledgeable and polite support team, great work guys
★★★★★
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
“Although sometimes slow to get through on the phone I…”
Although sometimes slow to get through on the phone I have dealt with Namesco over a period of years whilst hosting our website and e-mails. They have been really helpful and assisted even with technical issues which I can't do myself. From my experience I would recommend them.
★★★★★
Monday, October 24, 2016
“The other reviews I have just read are correct! I…”
The other reviews I have just read are correct! I have been paying a lot of money to names co to host my e mail account. I got a call this morning saying that I had exceeded my storage and my e mail would be suspended immediately unless I paid the man money. I suspected phishing / scam call. I logged into my control panel, and can find nothing there about storage, how much I am using, how much I am allowed, no upgrade options. Then moments later, my e mail account is completely suspended. Online queries takes more than 24 hours to be answered. I am on hold now, for more than 46 minutes, just like the other posters, trying to get my business e mail to be working, worrying about my clients who are sending e mails and getting no replies from me! Incredibly bad for my business. This is a company with incredibly awful support and dreadful practices, and even their online panel is incomprehensible. Over three years, the e mail consistently doesn't run, because the SMTP main out and mail in ports and passwords just don't work very well with Apple Mail, and so iPads and phones and Mac computers just keep being unable to connect. The frustration is awful and the lack of any support makes it even worse.
★★★★★
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
“We were obliged to go to Namesco to be able…”
We were obliged to go to Namesco to be able to continue to use our demon email. Then our email went off and no warning and I have tried for 2 days now to phone through and I have requested online support and no one answers. This is the worst IT company I have ever used. Do not use them if you do not have to.
★★★★★
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
“We were obliged to go to Namesco to be able…”
We were obliged to go to Namesco to be able to continue to use our demon email. I was told before we signed up that we would get all the help we needed to set up our new e-mail accounts. THIS IS A LIE!!! It is SO frustrating. I've had 3 calls answered after 40 minutes each where the person was unable to help. I'm on hold at the moment - nearly an hour!!!!. Still not able to set up accounts on my computer. A complete disaster. I would give no stars 1 is too many!
