How to Check a Company Director in the UK

Why Check a Company Director?

Before entering into a business relationship, it is prudent to verify who you are dealing with. Director checks are a standard part of:

• Supplier due diligence - verifying the people behind a company before awarding a contract
• Investment decisions - assessing the track record of founders and management
• KYC and AML compliance - meeting regulatory obligations for anti-money laundering checks
• Recruitment - verifying a candidate's claimed directorships
• Competitor intelligence - understanding who leads competing businesses
• Client onboarding - accountants, insurers, and professional services firms routinely verify company officers as part of their client-take-on process

What Information Is Publicly Available?

Companies House holds the following information for every company director:

• Full name - as declared on the appointment form
• Date of birth - month and year only (day is protected)
• Nationality
• Occupation - self-declared, so accuracy varies
• Country of residence - country only, not full address
• Appointment date - when they became a director
• Resignation date - if they have left the company
• Other directorships - all current and recent appointments

The director's full home address is held by Companies House but is not publicly visible. Only their service address (which can be the company's registered office) is shown on the public register. This protection exists under the Companies Act 2006 to prevent harassment and identity fraud - you should not attempt to locate a director's residential address through other means for commercial purposes. For more on what the public register contains, see our guide on how to check a UK company.

How to Search for a Director

Companies House Direct Search

1. Go to Companies House
2. Click "Search for an officer"
3. Enter the person's name
4. Review the results - note that common names will return many results

The search returns all current and historical directorships for matching names. You can filter by date of birth (if known) to narrow results. Alternatively, use NewcoHunter's director search tool to surface officer records alongside company-level data in one view.

What to Look For

Number of active directorships: Some people legitimately hold multiple directorships in corporate groups. An individual listed as director of dozens of unrelated companies may be a nominee director or formation agent.

Pattern of dissolutions: A history of companies struck off or dissolved with outstanding debts is a significant red flag.

Industry consistency: Do the directorships make sense together? Unrelated industries can indicate a nominee with no real operational involvement.

Timeline: Was the person the founding director, or brought in later? Timing can indicate the nature of their involvement.

Worked Example: Reading an Officer Appointments Page

Take a fictional example: Jane A. Smith, born March 1981. Companies House shows only the month and year - the day is suppressed to reduce identity-fraud risk. The partial date of birth is still useful for disambiguating between two people with the same name.

Below the name you will see:

• Nationality: British. Self-reported on the appointment form and not independently verified - though identity verification changes being phased in under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 will change this over time.
• Country of residence: England. Country only - not county or city. A high-risk jurisdiction here is worth noting.
• Occupation: "Director" or "Consultant". Self-declared and lightly validated. Treat it as a starting point, not a verified credential.

The appointments list shows current and resigned appointments. Each row shows the company name, number, status, role, and appointment date; resigned appointments also show the resignation date.

Look for two patterns in particular. Serial incorporations with short lifespans - if Jane has been director of eight companies over five years and all dissolved within 12-18 months with outstanding creditors, that warrants investigation. This can indicate phoenixing, where a business closes to escape liabilities and a successor is immediately formed. Overlapping appointments at similarly named companies - Acme Scaffolding Ltd, Acme Scaffolding Services Ltd, and Acme Scaffold Hire Ltd each registered a year apart - may represent legitimate restructuring or something more problematic. Cross-referencing SIC codes and filing histories helps you judge.

These patterns are also useful when monitoring newly incorporated companies via NewcoHunter's alert system - a familiar director name across multiple new incorporations can be an early signal worth acting on.

Disqualified Directors

The Disqualified Directors Register is a crucial check. The Insolvency Service can disqualify directors for:

• Allowing a company to trade while insolvent (wrongful trading)
• Persistent failure to file accounts or confirmation statements
• Fraud, dishonesty, or breach of fiduciary duty
• Breaching competition law

What disqualification means: A disqualification order or undertaking prevents a person from acting as a company director, being involved in company management, or acting as an insolvency practitioner - without court permission. This includes acting informally as a shadow director. Disqualification periods run from 2 to 15 years, with the most serious cases attracting the longest terms. The register shows the start date, duration, and grounds of each order.

To search the register, go to the Companies House disqualification search and enter the person's name. Acting as a director while disqualified is a criminal offence under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, carrying up to two years' imprisonment. Run this check as standard whenever onboarding a new supplier or client relationship.

Persons with Significant Control (PSC)

Since 2016, companies must declare their Persons with Significant Control - individuals who:

• Hold more than 25% of shares or voting rights
• Have the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board
• Otherwise exercise significant influence or control

PSC data is public and can reveal the true ownership of a company, which may differ from the directors listed.

Director vs PSC - Why Both Matter for Due Diligence

A director manages the company and owes legal duties under the Companies Act 2006. A PSC holds substantial economic or voting power and may or may not also be a director. In an owner-managed business the two roles often overlap - but in more complex structures they diverge. A private equity-backed company might have professional managers as directors while the investing fund appears as the PSC.

For AML compliance, you typically need to verify both layers. Directors tell you who has authority to bind the company contractually; PSCs tell you who ultimately benefits. The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require firms to identify and verify beneficial owners, which means checking the PSC register, not just the directors list. A company where PSCs cannot be clearly identified, or where the PSC register shows unexplained exemptions, should prompt enhanced due diligence. Use the PSC lookup tool alongside director checks for a complete picture. Our dedicated article on Persons with Significant Control covers the register in depth.

Director Identity Verification - What Is Changing

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced a requirement for directors to verify their identity with Companies House before appointment or incorporation. This is being rolled out in phases. Once fully implemented, every director on the register will have had their identity checked against a government-issued document, making it meaningfully harder to use fictitious or fraudulent persons. It does not replace the need for due diligence - identity verification confirms a person exists; it does not validate their conduct or history.

Using NewcoHunter for Director Research

While NewcoHunter focuses on discovering new companies rather than detailed director checks, our company profiles include director information from Companies House. When you find a new company through our search, you can see its directors and follow through to their full Companies House profile.

This is particularly useful for B2B sales teams personalising outreach, and for accountants or compliance teams screening a newly incorporated company before taking it on as a client. The company director search tool lets you search by officer name and see current and historical appointments without navigating the Companies House interface. Pair it with the PSC lookup tool for a complete ownership picture.

Search for new UK companies

Frequently Asked Questions

Are company directors' details public?

Yes. Most director information held at Companies House is publicly accessible at no cost, including full name, nationality, country of residence, occupation, date of birth (month and year only), and appointment and resignation dates. The one significant exception is the director's residential address, which is protected and not shown on the public register.

Can I see a director's home address?

No - not through the public register. The full home address is held by Companies House but suppressed from public view under the Companies Act 2006. What is visible is the service address, which is often the company's registered office. Only certain public authorities can access the protected residential address through a formal application process.

How do I check if a director is disqualified?

Search the Register of Disqualifications on Companies House by name. If a disqualification order is in force, the register shows the start date, length, and grounds of the order. This should be a routine check when onboarding any new business relationship.

What is the difference between a director and a PSC?

A director is an appointed officer who manages the company and owes duties under the Companies Act 2006. A PSC is a beneficial owner - someone with significant economic or voting interest - who may or may not also be a director. For AML and due diligence purposes you need to check both. See our guide on Persons with Significant Control for full detail.

Can I see all companies a person is a director of?

Yes. Searching by officer name on Companies House returns all current and historical directorships, including the company name, number, status, role, and appointment and resignation dates. You can also use the NewcoHunter director search tool to view this information with company-level context. Reviewing the full appointment history is one of the most valuable steps in director due diligence.