How to add a director to a company

Your company can have as many directors as you want, provided they have been approved by its members. If you don’t know how to add a director to a company, this article will provide you with the required steps.

If you’re a director of a start-up company, you may be aware that startups do need legal support and Harper James Solicitors can help you.

The process of adding a director

The process of adding a director to your company should start by finding the right person to hold that position. This can involve conducting interviews to find a suitable candidate. Ensure that the person you pick meets all the basic requirements for the position. For instance, they must be of the right age (16 or over) and not be barred from being a director.

Once you find the right person for this position, you can start the process of adding them to your company. First, you must notify Companies House of your intention to add a director to your company. You can do this using form APO1, which you can either print out, complete, and post to the organisation, or fill it out online through their website.

Alternatively, you can outsource company formation services and allow someone else to do the job for you, to avoid the hassle of filling out the form and posting it to Companies House. This is useful if you’re not sure of the details needed to complete the form.

Information needed when adding a director to your company

To complete the process of adding a new director to your company, you must submit the required information about the new director to the Companies House. The most important details include:

• Full name and any previous names used within the last 20 years
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• Date of appointment as director
• Previous and current occupation if any held
• Service address
• Residential address

Although the new director is required to give their full name when filling out the form, in some cases this name doesn’t include any middle names. But it is important that they give their full legal name as banks and other creditors want the full name, including the middle name, to make sure that the data matches what is listed with Companies House. Your new director should also include their middle name in the application to avoid a mix-up with others who may share the same first and last name. In any case, these personal details can be changed later once the appointment of the new director is complete.

The occupation section is important because the new director’s previous profession may have relevance to the future endeavours of your company. But there are several options for completing this section on the form, depending on the director’s preference. For instance, they can simply say Company Director or leave it blank if they do not have any other role.

If your new director does not want their residential address displayed on the public register, they can list their service address through the director’s address service. This is particularly important if you are running your company from home. Once your new director confirms that they give ‘consent to act’ by checking the box on the online or postal form, the process of adding a director is finished.

In summary, adding a director to a company is quite simple, especially if you have a qualified and experienced lawyer to guide you. You can even hire an agent who is familiar with the process to do it for you.

For further reading, check out our other articles like Bringing the company into disrepute.