Are they available yet? I had an email from 123reg to say that .uk domains launch in June, but are available to pre-order. 123 seem to let me register some .uk domains, but not others, but it doesn’t indicate that the domain is taken (but that be because they’re not actually available yet).
Anyway, what company might be good for registering these?
Many .uk domains are not available, if you have for example mysite.co.uk then you will get the right to purchase mysite.uk before anyone else can. So that is perhaps why you are having issues.
You can register .co.uk domains practically anywhere. 
hessodreamy is asking about the new .uk domains, which will be introduced on 10th June.
This page (and the rights lookup facility on it) might help: http://www.dotuklaunch.co.uk/what-uk
Anyone who can register a .co.uk can register a .uk domain for you. You need to be aware though that if the .co.uk of the .uk you want exists, in most instances (not all) the owner of the .co.uk will have the right to register the .uk domain for 5 years. Only then will it become available for general registration.
OpenSRS offers good prices - $6.50/year for 2 ear registration.
What if you’ve only got one ear?
I had some .co.uk domains which were registered with a particular host which, it turns out, are not able to provide .uk domains (they’re pretty rubbish). They pointed me in the direction of one of their ‘partners’, 123reg, who were apparently in a position to do .uk domains.
So I transferred the relevant .co.uk domains to 123reg back in February and, so far, have not been able to register the .uk domains. I contacted 123reg who say that they are “not be able to provide a specific time frame for when you would be able to pre-order the .uk domains” and that “this is not something that we can manage”.
So perhaps the availability of .uk domains to the owners of .co.uk domains was set many months ago, and is not re-triggered at any point?
If I moved to another registrar am I likely to have any better success?
If I wait until the official rollout in June is it possible that the .uk domain I’m after (my company name) could be snatched away from me?
Did you look at the site I linked to above?
Right to reserve
[LIST]
[]New registrations of .co.uk domains made before 08:00hrs on 10 June 2014 (provided that no other equivalent .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, ltd.uk or .plc.uk exists) will get the rights to the new .uk domain.
[] After launch on 10 June 2014 any new registrations within the .uk family (e.g. in .co.uk, .org.uk etc) no longer get automatic rights to register the new .uk domain. So these new .uk domains become available for anyone to register.
[] Anyone wanting a new .uk domain, where there are no existing domains with rights, will simply be able to register the new .uk domain.
[] You can check our Rights lookup tool for information on who has first rights.
[*] You can then register your new .uk domain as usual with your chosen registrar when it launches on 10 June 2014.
[/LIST]
OK, so it seems that if I don’t get it reserved by launch then I run the risk of having it snatched from me.
I’ve been unable to get 123reg to process the registration for me. Am I likely to have better luck with another registrar or is it, like 123 say, something that is not in the control of the registrar?
According to the rights lookup, I’m the one with the right to register the .uk domain.
Have I been left behind by being registered with non-participating registration when the rights were dished out, or is this a resolvable situation?
Check your rights to .uk
For the majority of you the new .uk equivalent domain will be automatically reserved for you when it launches on 10 June 2014. So if you have a unique .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .plc.uk or .ltd.uk the shorter and snappier .uk will be reserved especially for you for free up until 10 June 2019 as long as your domain remains registered.
They are, and I’m able to pre-order some, but only those that were registered with 123reg at the time of the initial invitation.
The websites in question were transferred to 123 in February (because the previous registrar couldn’t do it). And now they are not available to pre-order either in the list of “pre-order your .uk domains for your .co.uk domains”, nor as a new domain enquiry.
At this stage I’m a bit confused as to whether it’s down to 123 or nominet to sort out.
Ok, sorry - I hadn’t understood your issue properly.
You could try dropping Nominet an e-mail to enquire. The odd couple of times I’ve had to contact them, I’ve found them very helpful. (Can’t say the same for 123, but it’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with them.)
The good news is that your .uk domains are apparently reserved for you until June 2019, so even if you have to wait until after launch on 10th June this year, you’re not in any danger of losing them.
Yes, that is good. Thanks for setting me straight on that.