Nominet, the governing body for UK domain names, has today announced that starting summer 2014, “yourdomain.uk” domain names will be available to register, which will run alongside the existing “yourdomain.co.uk”.

This is the biggest change to the .uk domain since it began, opening up choice and huge opportunities for UK website owners.The finer details are still to be announced by Nominet, but here is what we know so far…

What will happen to existing domain name owners?

Existing co.uk, org.uk, me.uk etc. domain owners will be offered first rights to register and buy the equivalent .uk domain name. Where there are two domain owners for a name e.g. one person has the co.uk and another the org.uk, Nominet have decided the new .uk domain will be offered to the .co.uk registrant. 

What about non-registered domain names?

.uk domain names that do not have an equivalent name already registered will be available to register instantly on a first-come, first served basis.

When will .uk be available?

Nominet has committed themselves to announcing a definitive launch date by February 2014.

How can I get more information?

This is pretty much everything Nominet have announced so far. We will keep you up to date with this great opportunity for your brand and business, as soon as information becomes available.