Appointing a new company director

Are you wondering how to appoint a new company director now that your company is up and running? Don’t worry, the process is straightforward. Simply get consent from the proposed new director, have the company approve the appointment (for example, by passing an ordinary resolution of your members with more than 50% votes in favour), and file the Form AP01, together with the relevant information, with Companies House within 14 days of the appointment.

Due to changes brought in by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, your new director must verify their identity with Companies House and provide their personal code upon appointment.

Understanding the director appointment process

You can appoint a new company director by passing an ordinary resolution of your members, either at a general meeting or in writing. Alternatively, in your articles of association, you can authorise your board of directors to appoint new directors by passing a director resolution. Check your articles of association to discover the rules that apply to your company.

Step-by-step guide to appointing a new director

Follow these steps to appoint a new director by ordinary shareholder resolution:

1. Confirm ‘director’s consent to act’ as a company director, indicating the person agrees to the appointment.
2. Pass an ordinary resolution of your members proposing the appointment of a new director. You will need more than 50% or more of your members to vote in favour.
3. The director must verify their identity with Companies House and receive their personal code.
4. Submit Form AP01 to Companies House within 14 days of appointing the new director, either by using the WebFiling service or by posting the completed paper form to Companies House.
5. Companies House updates the public register to include the new director’s details, usually within 24 hours.

You can also submit Form AP01 free of charge through Rapid Formations’ Online Admin Portal. Simply enter a few details and submit the information to Companies House.

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Information needed to appoint a director

You must provide Companies House with the following information when you appoint a new director:

• Company name
• Company registration number (CRN)
• Date of appointment
• Full name of new director – You can withhold a middle name, but third parties such as banks may require it. To avoid complications, enter the director’s name exactly as it appears on their passport
• Former name(s), if used for business purposes within the past 20 years
• Personal verification code
• Nationality
• Date of birth – only the month and year will be disclosed on public record
• Service address – where the director receives formal correspondence and is publicly available on the Companies House register. We recommend using a non-residential address to keep the director’s home address private
• Residential address – A home address will not be made publicly available unless it’s also used as a service address

How do you update a director’s information at Companies House?

You can change any of the information Companies House holds about your directors using Form CH01. You must notify Companies House of any changes to the director’s information within 14 days of the change.

Who can be appointed as a company director?

Currently, you can appoint any individual or corporate body as a director, provided they’re not:

• under the age of 16
• a disqualified director
• an undischarged bankrupt (a bankrupt person waiting to be released from the bankruptcy process)
• a person or corporate body that’s also the company’s auditor
• disqualified by a provision in your articles of association

The UK government is planning to ban companies from appointing corporate entities as directors. As of April 2026, this had not yet come into force – check the latest guidance from Companies House to stay compliant.

In general, a person does not need to be a shareholder to be able to be a director of a company. However, shareholders are often also directors of their company, and directors can be offered shares in the company they manage.

Can you remove a director before appointing a new one?

You can only remove a director before appointing a new one if, after the removal, at least one director (who must be a natural person) would remain in post. If the director you wish to remove is your only director, you must first appoint a replacement. Your articles of association may require a higher minimum number of directors, in which case you must ensure that the minimum is maintained at all times.

Appointing a new director: next steps

Appointing a new director is an important milestone – and getting the process right from the start protects both the company and the incoming director.

If you’d like support with the appointment, Rapid Formations offers a dedicated director appointment service that handles every step for you, from drafting the resolution to filing with Companies House.