Someone I have met has a website which has gone down. They have a facebook presence and Google still returns business information (telephone numbers and the like) so all is not lost. I mentioned that the website returns a "Server DNS address could not be found" when accessed through Chrome. The story he gave me was that he had an arrangement with someone who hosted it in exchange for discounts (engineering firm). After the person left the scene he's apparently not returning calls and has removed the website. 

A bit of work via WhoIs has shown me that the person is still listed as the registrant, but the address (a .co.uk domain) has expired - about the same time that the site went offline apparently. I looked a little further but the site is not yet available for purchase. So I am assuming that the guy has just let the domain expire and not actively removed it.

Is there a way of safe guarding the domain such that the company can purchase it for themselves and prevent the fastest trigger squatting it? I found Nominet resolution process but it should be easier than going through a resolution process.