Article Centre · 40 guides
Start with verification, then move through duties, money, public records, personal eligibility and safe information sharing. The guide number preserves the editorial article order.
Stage 1 · 4 guides
Understand the legal office, test the proposition and decide whether it is worth investigating.
A paid nominee director opportunity can exist, but a website, contract or Companies House entry does not prove that an offer is genuine. Verify the provider, proposed company, controllers, payment terms and document handling independently before agreeing to anything.
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A nominee director is formally appointed as a company director within an arrangement involving another party. UK law does not treat nominee as a lower-responsibility status, so the registered person must retain independent judgement and ordinary director duties.
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A nominee director investigates before accepting, makes independent decisions and maintains proportionate oversight after appointment. Managers can carry out routine work, but a private agreement cannot remove the duties of a registered director.
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Companies may use nominee directors for a disclosed governance or representation purpose, but there is no standard reason that makes an offer safe. A fee can pay for time and a real legal office; it cannot buy anonymity, obedience or relief from director duties.
Read guide →Stage 2 · 8 guides
Keep registration, private checks, company verification and final consent as separate decisions.
A nominee directorship should be approached as a sequence of evidence-based decisions, not a quick application. Eligibility, provider screening, company due diligence, statutory verification, contract review and formal appointment each serve a different purpose.
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Registration is only an expression of interest, not an appointment or an identity check. Any later screening, KYC, matching and appointment steps should remain separate, explained and optional until you give informed consent.
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Identity documents may support a defined onboarding, AML or Companies House check, but those purposes are not interchangeable. Verify the requester, controller, legal basis, minimum evidence and retention terms before sending anything.
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KYC for a director is one part of a regulated provider's wider customer due diligence. The provider must identify the right customer and beneficial owner, understand ownership, control and purpose, and apply risk-based review rather than checking only the proposed director.
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Mandatory Companies House identity verification began on 18 November 2025. New directors verify for incorporation or appointment, while existing directors connect their identity according to the confirmation-statement timetable for each company.
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UK law does not create a lower-responsibility “nominee director” category or impose a blanket ban on every arrangement described that way. Lawfulness depends on the purpose, accurate ownership and control disclosures, a valid appointment, the director's conduct and any provider's compliance.
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No single register can prove that a company or director offer is legitimate. Build an evidence trail across Companies House, ownership and control, filings, insolvency information, regulatory claims, independent contact checks and the proposed appointment documents.
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Stop if an offer depends on secrecy, false filings, unexplained money movements or signing documents you cannot verify. A written contract is useful evidence, but it cannot make an unsafe appointment safe or reduce a director's legal duties.
Read guide →Stage 3 · 10 guides
Compare legal capacities, oversight duties, authority, liability and exit protections.
A director is not normally personally liable for all company debts simply because the company cannot pay. Personal exposure can arise from a guarantee, breach of duty, misuse of assets, particular insolvency or tax rules, false conduct, offences or acting while disqualified.
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A nominee director can be prosecuted and, for some offences, imprisonment is available, but the title or a company failure does not itself establish a crime. Criminal liability depends on the elements of a specific offence and evidence of the person's conduct, knowledge or intent where the provision requires it.
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A company going bust does not automatically make its directors liable or prove wrongdoing. Duties become creditor-focused as insolvency develops, and directors should protect assets, preserve records, avoid worsening creditor loss and obtain qualified insolvency advice promptly.
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An indemnity may create a contractual right to reimbursement for defined liabilities, but it does not remove director duties or stop a claim, investigation or prosecution. The parties, lawful scope, exclusions, defence process, financial substance and survival after resignation all need independent review.
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A director may delegate filing administration, but must maintain a reasonable system for records, deadlines, approvals and proof of acceptance. Accounts, confirmation statements, HMRC work and in-year changes need separate controls.
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A power of attorney can authorise defined acts for its donor, including execution of specified company documents where the law and approvals permit. It does not appoint the attorney as director or remove the nominee director’s duties.
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A nominee director holds a formal company office and must make independent, informed decisions. A nominee shareholder is the registered member for shares that may be held for another beneficial owner.
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A beneficial owner ultimately owns or controls value or decisions, while a nominee director is formally appointed to the company's board. The roles can overlap, but neither a nominee label nor a private agreement removes director duties or PSC and AML disclosure requirements.
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A nominee director is appointed to office and remains subject to full director duties. A shadow director may lack formal appointment but is identified from a pattern in which the board follows that person’s directions or instructions.
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Non-executive usually describes a director's relationship to day-to-day management, while nominee describes the relationship behind selection or appointment. They are not opposite legal categories, and either person remains subject to ordinary director duties.
Read guide →Stage 4 · 6 guides
Check the payer, payroll treatment, personal reporting and the realistic value of a proposed fee.
There is no verified UK-wide average that can predict what a nominee director will be paid, and this site does not promise an amount or frequency. Judge a specific proposal by its scope, payer, payment trigger, payroll treatment, evidence and non-payment risk.
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Nominee director fees are not automatically tax-free or casual self-employed income. Fees paid for holding a director's office are generally employment income and normally go through the office-holding company's PAYE payroll.
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Fees paid directly for holding a company director's office are generally employment income and normally handled through PAYE by the company in which the office is held. A narrow appointing-company or professional-partnership treatment may apply only when detailed statutory conditions are met.
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A company director does not automatically have to complete Self Assessment merely because of the office. Filing depends on HMRC notices, untaxed income, dividends and the person's wider tax position.
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A directorship and any director fees should be disclosed accurately to Universal Credit; do not assume PAYE means no further action. The treatment can depend on payment timing, ownership, control and whether the claimant is treated as having employed or self-employed earnings.
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Nominee director income is not automatically worth it, even when the fee is paid as agreed. The decision depends on whether you can fulfil the real director role, verify the company and payer, absorb the personal effects and accept the remaining risk after tax and costs.
Read guide →Stage 5 · 6 guides
Understand searchable records, address choices, employment or credit effects and how departure is recorded.
Yes. A UK company director's name and core appointment details are normally public on the Companies House register. A home address and full date of birth usually stay private, but address choices and historic documents can expose more.
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A director's service address is public correspondence information, while their usual residential address is normally kept on a private Companies House register. Using a home in a public field makes it visible, and a later change does not automatically alter historic documents.
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A current or prospective employer can find current and former directorships on the public Companies House register. Whether you must tell them proactively is a separate question governed by your contract, policies, professional rules and conflicts.
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A UK directorship is public at Companies House and may be held in business credit data, but appointment alone is not the same as a negative entry on a personal consumer credit report. Personal guarantees, personal borrowing, judgments, insolvency and a lender's own checks can create different consequences.
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Check the company's articles and relevant contracts, give clear written notice, complete a documented handover and verify the public update. The company must tell Companies House within 14 days after the office ends, but TM01 normally records rather than creates the resignation.
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Resignation normally leaves a public former-director record; the expected change is a resigned status and end date, not deletion. An entry that remains active needs checks of the notice, effective date and company filing before any correction or dispute route is chosen.
Read guide →Stage 6 · 5 guides
Check the rules and personal consequences that apply to retirement, study, work, insolvency or convictions.
Retirement is not, by itself, a bar to becoming a UK company director. Suitability depends on the usual legal restrictions, the ability to perform the office and the person's own tax, pension and benefit position.
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Being a student does not by itself prevent someone from becoming a UK company director. Age, immigration permission, director duties, study commitments and the financial consequences still need separate checks.
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Employment does not create a general ban on holding a company directorship. Your contract, employer policies, professional rules, conflicts, confidentiality duties and capacity to perform both roles determine whether a particular appointment is workable.
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In England and Wales, an undischarged bankrupt normally needs court permission to act as a company director or take part in company management. Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate insolvency systems, and extended restrictions or disqualification can continue.
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A criminal record does not automatically prevent someone becoming a UK company director for life. A current disqualification, a conviction linked to company management, lawful disclosure duties or a regulated-sector fit-and-proper test can change the answer.
Read guide →Stage 7 · 1 guides
Share neutral information without transferring another person's data or promising outcomes or rewards.
A responsible introduction begins with the other person's agreement and a neutral account of the legal role. Let them contact the service themselves, and never collect identity or financial documents for them.
Read guide →Do not use a public document-upload route. Verify the organisation, recipient, purpose and privacy information before sharing sensitive data, and treat declining as a valid outcome.