I have just set up a VPS account for hosting websites for my clients and I am now on the hunt for a good registrar in the UK to register my domain names.

Can anyone recommend one?

Are you looking for an ICANN-accredited registrar, or just anyone who can register domains regardless of whether they are a registrar or a reseller?

I did a fair bit of research a couple of years ago after deciding that I wanted to move my GTLD domains to a company that is (a) a registrar (not a reseller) and (b) a UK limited company. I found that while there are a number of companies that fit the bill most of them cater to the corporate market and charge rather a lot.

I settled for Total Registrations (totalregistrations.com) in the end, and I'm happy with them. They are more expensive than companies based in places like the US or India, but not by a significant amount... and I'm happy to pay slightly more and feel safe in the knowledge that I am dealing with a UK legal entity which (should things go terribly wrong) I can deal with under UK law. Other than the occasional slow-running of their web site I've never had any issues with them.

The only UK registrar I ever used was 123-reg.co.uk. They were okay, but I hated their domain control panel.

May I ask OP what domain name extension he is looking for?

The only UK registrar I ever used was 123-reg.co.uk. They were okay, but I hated their domain control panel.

They're not a registrar (except for .uk domains), they're a reseller. To some people this makes no difference, to others (myself included) it does

I would really consider 1and1.co.uk

I am looking for .co.uk domains primarily. I have just registered a domain with UK-Reg through Fasthosts - they offer great flexibility from within the control panel which seems great.

I am looking for .co.uk domains primarily. I have just registered a domain with UK-Reg through Fasthosts - they offer great flexibility from within the control panel which seems great.

I would recommend taking a look at NetEarthOne. They have pretty good rates on the UK TLD's. They are UK based, however they are registered here in the US.

Yes our support is in the UK, .UK domains are registered through our UK limited company.

The ICANN registrar is a USA based corporation.

I am looking for .co.uk domains primarily. I have just registered a domain with UK-Reg through Fasthosts - they offer great flexibility from within the control panel which seems great.

If you're primarily looking for .uk domains then in some ways it doesn't really matter what company you use as long as they are UK based (I would NOT use a company outside the UK for .uk domains).

The reason it doesn't matter so much is that in the .uk world the registrar is really only a middle man. When you register a .com your contract is with the registrar and you're at the mercy of the registrar. When you register a .uk you have a contract both with your registrar and with Nominet (the registry), and you can easily bypass the registrar if things go wrong and get Nominet to move your domain to another registrar.

Fasthosts are... well... OK-ish. Dealing with their customer service can be a bit hit and miss, they have some very competent people and some who are incredibly dozy and ignorant. Response time has been getting slower and slower, especially when issues have to be referred to their overworked second-level support team. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them, but neither would I say "don't touch them with a bargepole". As I said... OK-ish