A director appointment needs the director’s verified identity details as well as their name and address. AP01 version 10.0, dated August 2026, includes a private page for the Companies House personal code and a question about whether the appointment name matches the verified name.
Who uses AP01, and when to notify Companies House
AP01 records the appointment of an individual director. A corporate director uses AP02. Companies House says director changes must be reported within 14 days. Enter the appointment date itself in section 2, using day, month and year.
The GOV.UK AP01 page directs applicants to the online service. It requires a paper form for a company being restored to the register or a UK Societas. Before filing, the director must verify their identity; the company needs their personal code and confirmation that verification has taken place.
A secretary appointment is a separate filing. If the same company is appointing a secretary, the individual secretary’s details belong on AP03.
Completing the public details on page 1
Sections 1 to 4 cover the company, appointment date, director and service address. The marked areas follow those section numbers. Use the registered company name and number, then enter the director’s full forenames and surname.
| Section | Entry | Record to consult |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Company number and full registered name | The company’s register entry |
| 2 | Date the director was appointed | The company’s appointment record |
| 3 | Name, nationality, country or state of residence, and birth month and year | The director’s details; use the approved nationalities and countries list linked by Companies House |
| 4 | Service address for the public register | The address agreed for correspondence with the director |
Section 3 also asks for former names used for business in the previous 20 years. Section 7 provides space for additional former names. The residence entry refers to the usual residential address supplied in A2.
Only the month and year of birth go in section 3. The full date belongs in A1, on the page labelled as excluded from the public record.
Residential address and identity verification
Section 4’s service address is public. Entering a home address there makes that address public, even though the separate residential-address page is protected from routine public display. You can use the company’s registered office as the service address.
Complete A2 with the usual residential address. The form permits “Same as service address” when the addresses match, but not when section 4 contains only “The company’s registered office”; in that case A2 needs the full address. A residential address cannot be a PO Box, DX or LP number.
A4 contains the verification statement and the 11-character Companies House personal code. A5 asks whether the director’s supplied name matches the verified name and provides reasons for a difference, including a legal name change or a different naming convention. These identity verification details are on a non-public page.
Consent, authentication and sending the form
Tick section 5 only after the person has consented to act. In section 6, the authorised filer enters their printed name; this version does not ask for a signature. The form lists the permitted capacities, including director, secretary and a person authorised under the relevant Companies Act provisions.
The August 2026 PDF gives the normal postal destination as Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ. It applies to companies registered across the UK. A section 243 protection application or existing exemption uses the separate address printed on the form: The Registrar of Companies, PO Box 4082, Cardiff, CF14 3WE. Follow that special route when it applies.
Download the full five-page official PDF below. Keep the private pages in the submission: leaving them out would also omit the full birth date, residential address and identity verification details requested by AP01.