AP01 is the Companies House filing that tells the registrar a person has been appointed as a director of a UK company. It does not make someone a director on its own. The company appoints them first, under its articles of association, and the AP01 records that appointment on the public register.
Since 18 November 2025 there is an extra step that catches people out: the new director has to verify their identity and give you their Companies House personal code before the AP01 can go in. This guide covers who can be appointed, how to get the personal code sorted, how to file, and what ends up on the public record.
It is general information about UK company law, not advice for your company.
Who can be a director
A person has to be at least 16. Under section 157 of the Companies Act 2006, an appointment of someone younger is void, not just late or irregular.
They also cannot be disqualified. Search the register of disqualified directors before you go ahead. GOV.UK says someone under bankruptcy restrictions or a Debt Relief Order is not usually allowed to be a director either. The consequences reach beyond the individual: acting on the instructions of a disqualified person can lead to prosecution and leave you personally liable for the company’s debts.
Beyond the legal minimums, your own articles may add rules, such as a minimum number of directors or who gets to approve an appointment. Read them before you promise anyone a seat on the board.
Do the internal part first
Appointing a director starts inside the company. Make the appointment the way your articles say, usually by a board decision or an ordinary resolution of the shareholders, and minute it with the date. That date matters, because the 14-day clock for telling Companies House starts from it.
Get the new director’s agreement to act in writing and keep it with the company’s records alongside the minutes. Companies House does not ask to see either document, but they are your evidence that the appointment was made properly.
Get the personal code before you file
The AP01 page now says plainly that all directors must verify their identity, and that you need to give the director’s Companies House personal code and confirm they have verified.
The director does this themselves through GOV.UK One Login. It is free. They can verify with the app, by answering security questions online, or at a participating Post Office. Alternatively, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider can verify them, and may charge for it.
Once verified, they receive an 11-character personal code. The code belongs to the person, not to the company, and they reuse it for every company they are involved with. If they hand it to you or your accountant to file with, treat it like any other credential.
Directors who were already in post before 18 November 2025 give their code on the company’s next confirmation statement instead, and the company cannot file that statement until every director is verified. Companies House set this up as a 12-month transition period that started on 18 November 2025 and runs to 18 November 2026. Any existing director who has not yet verified should do it now rather than wait for the confirmation statement. Existing people with significant control verify on an appointed day within the same 12 months. Our guide to the Companies House personal code goes into more detail.
Filing the AP01
For almost every company, AP01 is filed online through the Companies House online service. The paper form is only needed for companies being restored to the register and for a UK Societas.
- Sign in to the Companies House online service. You will usually need the company’s authentication code to file for it.
- Choose to appoint a director and enter the details of the new appointment, including the appointment date from your minutes.
- Pick the director’s nationality from Companies House’s standard list. Free-text entries are not accepted.
- Give both a service address and the director’s usual residential address. More on why the difference matters below.
- Enter the director’s personal code and confirm their identity has been verified.
- Submit within 14 days of the appointment date.
GOV.UK is clear that changes to directors have to reach Companies House within 14 days.
That also means you cannot add a director to a company’s record by waiting for the next confirmation statement. The appointment needs its own filing.
What becomes public
Companies House publishes a director’s name, nationality, and the month and year of their birth. The full date of birth goes on a private register.
The two addresses work differently. The service address is shown publicly. The usual residential address is kept on a private register, but only if it is not also given as the service address. GOV.UK’s guidance on personal information on the register is simple: if you do not want your home address on show, use a different service address or the company’s registered office.
It is an easy slip to make when filling in the form quickly, so check that field before you submit.
If the new director is also a PSC
A director who also owns or controls the company, a person with significant control, verifies once but gives their personal code separately for each role. For someone who became a PSC after 18 November 2025, Companies House guidance says the code can be given when they are first added to the register or within 14 days of being added. Update the PSC details at the same time as the AP01 so the two parts of the register agree.
If the new director is going to draw a salary, that is a separate job with HMRC. It does not form part of the AP01, and our guide to director salary and dividends for 2026/27 covers how that salary is usually set.
Questions people ask about AP01
Where do I send form AP01?
In most cases you do not send it anywhere: it is filed online through Companies House’s service. Only companies being restored to the register or a UK Societas use the paper version, which carries its own postal address.
At what point is someone actually a director?
When the company appoints them under its articles, on the date recorded in the decision. The AP01 notifies Companies House of that appointment afterwards, within 14 days.
What happens if we miss the 14 days?
File as soon as you can. GOV.UK warns that directors who do not meet their responsibilities can be fined, prosecuted or disqualified, and failing to meet identity verification requirements on time can itself be an offence.
Keeping Companies House filings in order
eAccounts is a Xero Platinum Partner working with UK limited companies, and the Companies House side of running a company sits alongside the accounts we already prepare. We handle confirmation statements for clients, and every director has to be verified before one can be filed.
If a director is leaving rather than joining, our guide to resigning as a company director covers the other side. To talk about your company’s filings, get a quote.
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