By law, every private limited company registered in the UK must have a minimum of one appointed Director that is a natural person (i.e. an individual). Public companies must have a minimum of two Directors.
Most company articles contain provisions which do permit sole director decision making; but it is advisable to have another Director appointed. If your company does not have any Directors appointed, it will be in breach of the Companies Act 2006.
How does it work?
Under the Companies Act 2006, all private limited companies must ensure that there is at least one Director appointed at all times, to enable important company decisions to be taken and routine documents such as the annual accounts and confirmation statement to be signed.
Having multiple directors not only allows you to share the burden of important decision making and document authorisation; but can also keep your company running if something were to happen to you.
If your company only has one director, there is a risk that, should something happen to you, the company would be left without anyone to sign accounts and file documents for the company, which could lead to fines and even the company being struck off by Companies House.
To avoid this, we recommend always having at least one additional Director appointed to take decisions on behalf of the business. Aside from this, having an additional Director gives you the ability to sound ideas with someone and discuss changes before acting on them.
What should I do next?
You should consider if you are comfortable with your business having a single Director appointed, weighing up the pros and cons accordingly.
Where you decide that having another Director might be beneficial, you should consider who you might wish to appoint, and hold a board meeting to ratify the appointment.
If you have any questions about how this works, or how this might affect other areas of your business, reach out to one of our experts.
