A domain name for your takeaway: choose it, own it, move it

Every QR code, Google listing, flyer and bag sticker you put out points customers at an address. If that address belongs to a marketplace, a web designer or an ordering provider, so do the customers who type it. This guide covers how to pick a name, how to check who really holds it, and what the registries' own rules say about moving it. Sources were read on 10 November 2026. It isn't legal advice.

Choosing the name

• Say it, then spell it. If you have to spell it out twice on the phone, it is too long or too clever. Your shop name plus the town is a common pattern when the plain name is taken.
• Avoid hyphens and number swaps (4 for "for", 2 for "to"). They are easy to mishear and easy for someone else to copy.
• .co.uk or .com? Both work for a UK takeaway. A .co.uk says you are in the UK; a .com is what some customers type by habit. If both are free, registering both and pointing one at the other stops a rival or a squatter taking the other one.
• Don't build on someone else's brand. A name that includes a marketplace's or another restaurant's name invites a complaint. Use your own.
• Think about the second shop. If you plan more branches, a name without a street or area in it travels better.

Owning it: the checks that matter

The registrant is the legal holder of a domain. The registrar is the company you pay to keep it registered. They are often confused, and the difference is what decides who keeps the name in a dispute.

If a web designer, an ordering provider or a marketplace registered the name, ask in writing whose name is on it and how to move it into yours. Do it while relations are good, not on the day you change provider.

Marketplaces can run sites in your name on their domains. Just Eat's partner terms (dated 18 December 2025) say that, unless you advise it otherwise, it may create and promote a website using your brand, menu and logo, "with a domain name using your brand", and that "We will own that domain name" (clause 3.1(c)). Clause 3.1(d) covers links to Just Eat that it may add to your Google Business Profile and online maps, and says you can manage those links and ask it to remove them. A domain with your brand in it that Just Eat owns is not yours to keep, so if you'd rather it didn't exist, tell Just Eat in writing. Our guide to leaving Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats covers what to ask for when you go.

Moving a .uk domain: the rules change on 9 February 2027

Nominet runs the .uk registry, including .co.uk. It has published a new .UK Inter-registrar Transfer Policy (version 2026-03), effective from 9 February 2027, which it calls the transition date. Under it:

1. You ask your current (losing) registrar to set and give you a Transfer Authorisation Code, and to remove any transfer lock it has set.
2. The losing registrar must remove its locks at no charge within 5 days and provide the code within 5 days at no charge, unless it can show the lock is there to prevent abuse or to follow other registry rules.
3. You give the code to the new (gaining) registrar and agree to its terms. You can ask for the transfer with or without a renewal, if the new registrar supports transfers without renewal. The new registrar may charge for the transfer.
4. The registry checks there are no locks and that the code is valid, then moves the domain straight away.

Until the transition date, .uk transfers use Nominet's older tag-based process, which Nominet is renaming "accreditations". The steps differ between registrars, so ask the new registrar for its current instructions. Nominet's registrar notes also say registrars will choose between auto-delete (the behaviour today) and auto-renew for domains that are not renewed, so check your renewal setting rather than assuming the name renews itself.

Moving a .com domain

For .com and other ICANN domains, ICANN's registrant FAQ says:

• You start the transfer at the new registrar, using an Auth-Code (also called an AuthInfo or transfer code) from the current one.
• Your registrar must give you the code within five calendar days of asking, and must give you a reasonable way to remove a transfer lock.
• A transfer can be refused if the domain is within 60 days of registration, within 60 days of a previous transfer, or under a 60-day Change of Registrant lock, which follows a change to the registrant's name, organisation or email.

So change the registrant's details and move registrars in the right order, or you may wait 60 days between the two.

You don't need to move the domain to change your ordering system

Most ordering systems connect to a domain you already hold by adding DNS records, so the registration can stay where it is. With Chefzi you add the domain in the portal and copy the DNS records it shows into your registrar's settings; you keep paying your registrar for the name. See use your own domain with Chefzi. If you are moving off GloriaFood, the GloriaFood custom domain guide walks through copying every DNS record (including email) before you switch.

Once the domain points at your ordering page, use it everywhere: your Google profile (add an order link to your Google Business Profile), your menus, and QR posters, table cards and bag stickers.

Frequently asked questions

Should a UK takeaway use .co.uk or .com?

Either works. A .co.uk tells customers you are a UK business, and a .com is the one many people type by habit. If both are free, you can register both and point one at the other, so nobody lands on someone else's site. Pick the one you will print on the menu and stick to it.

How do I check who owns my takeaway's domain?

Log in to the registrar account where the domain is held and look at the registrant (the legal holder). If a web designer, an ordering provider or a marketplace bought the name for you, ask them in writing whose name is on the registration and how you can take it over. The registrant should be you or your business.

Can Just Eat own a website in my takeaway's name?

Yes. Just Eat's partner terms (dated 18 December 2025, clause 3.1(c)) say that, unless you advise it otherwise, it may create and promote a website using your brand, menu and logo, with a domain name using your brand, and that Just Eat will own that domain name. If you don't want that, tell Just Eat in writing. Either way, put your own domain on your Google Business Profile, menus and bags.

How do I move a .uk domain to another registrar?

From 9 February 2027 Nominet's new .UK transfer policy applies: ask your current registrar for a Transfer Authorisation Code and to remove any transfer lock, then give the code to the new registrar. The current registrar must remove the lock and provide the code within 5 days at no charge. Before that date, the older tag-based process applies, so ask the new registrar for its current steps.

How do I move a .com domain to another registrar?

Ask your current registrar for the transfer code (also called an Auth-Code or EPP code) and to unlock the domain, then start the transfer at the new registrar. ICANN says the registrar must give you the code within five calendar days. A transfer can be refused within 60 days of registration, within 60 days of a previous transfer, or during a 60-day lock after a change of registrant.

Do I need to move my domain to use it with an ordering system?

Usually not. Most ordering systems, Chefzi included, connect to a domain you already own by adding DNS records at your registrar or DNS host. You keep the registration where it is and keep paying the registrar for the name.

Sources