Nominet
Nominet maintains the registry for .uk domain names, managing over eight million domain names.[1]
 | |
| Type: | Private, Not-for-profit |
| Industry: | Registry |
| Founded: | UK, 1996 |
| Founder(s): | Willie Black |
| Headquarters: | Minerva House, Edmund Halley Road, Oxford Science Park, Oxford, OX4 4DQ England |
| Country: | UK |
| Employees: | 115 (2010) |
| Revenue: | £20 million (2010) |
| Website: | nominet.org.uk |
| Twitter: |  @nominet
|
| Key People | |
| Eleanor Bradley, Director of Operations Gill Crowther, Director of HR | |
Nominet has launched a charitable foundation, the Nominet Trust,[2] as it has been creating a profit surplus on its ordinary operations since 2003; its constitution forbids it from distributing surplus funds to members in the manner of a commercial company paying dividends, and so it turned tocharitable activities as a means of running down the excess funds.
In September 2008, Nominet's board made an initial donation of £5m to its charitable offshoot,[3] which will support "education, research and the funding of suitable projects for the benefit of UK internet stakeholders". Further donations have been made since this date.
History
The .uk ccTLD was first used during the 1980s, and at that time a voluntary group called the Naming Committee managed the registration of .uk domain names.
By the early 1990s, commercial companies started to sell domain names to customers. As demand for domain name registrations grew, it became clear that a voluntary group could no longer cope with the volume of registrations being requested. A new organization was needed to manage the .uk ccTLD and, as a result, Nominet UK was formed.
There was discussion about what type of corporation the registry should be. The options to set it up as a profit-making company or a charity were rejected, and Nominet was established in 1996 as a private, not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee.
Nominet began registering domain names on August 1st, 1996, and is now officially recognized by the UK Government as the manager of the .uk ccTLD.[4]
Nominet has been involved in proposals to cut off the Internet access without due process for UK citizens when determined necessary by law enforcement.[5]
Recent Developments
In September, 2011, the city of London's official promoter, London & Partners, announced it was seeking proposals to run a .london GeoTLD. Nominet intends to respond, saying that they would run the space on a not-for-profit basis and turn the profits around to worthy causes, as the Nominet Trust already does.[6] Other bids are expected from other English companies, such as CentralNic.
Services offered
Nominet maintains the register of .uk domain names which has over eight million domain names. Nominet also maintains many second-level domains, such as:
Awards
- Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards, 'Best Place To Work,' Winner - 2009.
- Oxfordshire Business Awards, 'Customer and Staff Care', Winner - 2009.
- Oxfordshire Business Awards, 'Customer and Staff Care', Finalist - 2008.
- British Computer Society Organisational Excellence Awards, 'Women in IT' finalist - 2007.
- Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards 'Employer of Choice', Finalist - 2007.
- Best Companies Ltd., 'First Class Star Status' - 2008.
- Best Companies Ltd., 'First Class Star Status' - 2007.
- Sunday Times Top 100 Best Small Companies To Work For List - 2005.
- Best of British Industry Awards, Finalist - 2007.