On 10th June 2014, Nominet the UK-based registrar of all domains ending .uk (so .co.uk | .org.uk | .me.uk | .net.uk | .plc.uk | .ltd.uk) made a more 'pure' variant available simply .uk

There are various staging dates with the release as there are usually with new TLDs - but the really important date with regard to this release is 25th June 2019.

Before this date, if you own any variant of a domain ultimately ending in .uk (so barkweb.co.uk for us) you have had the rights to buying the .uk domain (barkweb.uk). 

However, after this date all gloves are off and anyone can register any .uk domain even if they don't own another .uk variant.

So the question is - should you buy the .uk variant of an existing domain that you own?

There is no right or wrong answer here and it will depend on how many domains you own, how much you can afford and how likely you think you are for a competitor to grab your company name or brand term.

To help you make a decision here are some scenarios for 'yes' and 'no':

Yes - go buy it scenarios:

• You are worried that a competitor may 'fake' your business (we don't recommend that you do this for one of your competitors...)
• You are protective about your online brand and identity
• You don't have that many domains and you can afford it

No - pass on an additional purchase

• Who would really want the .uk variant of my domain?
• The domain is not really our brand
• Really another expense?

Our summary advice is: If the expense is not an issue (and .uk domains are very cheap) then it would be prudent to just go ahead. If you are at all worried about the implications of another person or company owning the .uk variant then go ahead.

Get in touch

If you want to discuss this with us, want to register your .uk with us or talk about the weather we would love to hear from you. Call 01323 735800 or email enq@barkweb.co.uk.