Company law · When something changes

A director is joining or leaving

Companies Act 2006 Part 10 · 14 days to file

You must tell Companies House within fourteen days when a director is appointed, when a director resigns or is removed, or when a director's details change. The appointment is notified on form AP01, a termination on form TM01, and a change of a director's details on form CH01. The company keeps its record of the change and files the notification inside the fourteen-day window.

A director's general duties sit in Part 10 of the Companies Act 2006, at sections 171 to 177. A person taking on a directorship takes on those duties, including the duty to promote the success of the company and the duty to avoid conflicts of interest. Where the company has no company secretary, the directors also carry the filing duties that a secretary would otherwise hold.

A new director must verify their identity before or on appointment. That identity check is handled by the separate ECCTA 2023 system. See the ECCTA 2023 tool →

The Directors working file in the ComplianceSME Companies Act 2006 system takes you through the appointment or departure, records the date of the change and the date it was notified, and confirms the general duties the incoming director now holds. It asks you who changed, when, and how it was filed, one question at a time, then produces the evidence that the change met the fourteen-day deadline.

Everything beyond the Companies Act 2006 has its own system in the full register.