How can you change company directors?

Changes to company directors and important personnel can take place after company formation and directors can resign or be removed at any point after incorporation. The company must ensure that all the relevant resolutions are signed and the relevant people are informed of these alterations, including Companies House.

Companies House must be informed of any changes to:

• Directors and company secretaries (new appointments, resignations, or changes to personal details)
• Changing the company name
• Changing your registered office address
• Changing your accounting reference date
• Changes to your company’s share structure

How to inform Companies House

To appoint a new director, you need to file a form called an AP01 (or AP02 if you are appointing a corporate entity as a director). This form provides the following details to Companies House: Company name, company registration number (CRN), data of appointment of a new company director, title, full names, date of birth, residential address, service address, occupation, and nationality. Companies House needs to be informed within a certain time scale and the quickest and easiest way to file this information is via Companies House WebFiling or this form can also be posted to Companies House in paper form.

Note: you must have one director. If a company only has one director, who wishes to resign; the new director must be appointed before the resigned can be processed.

How to change a director’s details

You can change the details of a current officer including a director’s name, residential address or service address by filing form CH01. This could come into play if a director has moved house, is getting married or changes their name by deed poll.

Note: We recommend filing all Companies House forms online as it can take 7 to 10 days for Companies House to update records if the forms have been submitted by post.

Any changes made to the company directors’ details need to be updated in your statutory registers. If the existing director also holds shares in the company, then you may need to transfer these to the new director or someone else.

How to remove a company director

To remove a director from a company you need to resign the person by filing a form called TM01 at Companies House. Any resignation or termination must be in accordance with the terms of the Companies Act 2006, the articles of association, the shareholders’ agreement (if applicable), and any service agreement between the director and the company. This form can be posted to Companies House in paper form or you can file this online.

You must ensure that your company has at least one natural director appointed at all times. We would therefore remind you to take this into account if the sole director is leaving or being removed.

Important Companies House Forms to take note of:

• AP01 – Appointing a Director
• AP02 – Appointing a Corporate Director
• TM01 – Terminating of a Director
• CH01 – Changing Details of a Director

All of the above notifications to Companies House and the relevant resolutions can be prepared and filed by Paul Beare Ltd within the correct timescales. Paul can also be appointed as Company Secretary with our address as the Registered Office. If you require any additional information or would like to discuss this with a member of our team in more detail then, please get in touch.