Appointing a new director to a UK limited company runs through form AP01 — but since 18 November 2025 the first move is not the form. The person you want to appoint has to verify their identity with Companies House first, because the AP01 asks for their Companies House personal code and asks you to confirm that the verification has already happened. Gov.uk puts it plainly: "All directors must verify their identity to prove who they are." Verification is free through GOV.UK One Login, or you can pay an Authorised Corporate Service Provider to do it for you. Once the appointment is made, you have 14 days to tell Companies House — the same 14-day clock that covers resignations and changes to a director's personal details. Get the order right and the filing takes minutes. Get it wrong and you are stuck waiting on a verification you should have started first.
How do you appoint a new director?
Most guides still describe the old sequence: agree the appointment, file the form, sort out identity afterwards. That order no longer works. The appointment filing itself now carries proof that the new director has already been verified, so the verification has to be finished before you open the form. Think of it as four steps, in this order:
Agree the appointment internally and check your company's articles of association — they may set out how directors are appointed, including any resolution or approval your company has signed up to. That is a document-by-document question, not a single national rule, so read yours.
Get the new director verified with Companies House and make a note of their personal code.
File form AP01 with the personal code and the confirmation of verification.
Keep the 14-day deadline in view from the date the appointment takes effect.
Does the new director need to verify their identity first?
Yes — and this is the step that catches people out. Companies House guidance on verifying your identity (checked 14 September 2026) states that a personal code is needed "as part of your appointment filing or when you incorporate a company", a requirement in force since 18 November 2025 for new directors and persons with significant control. There is no version of this where verification is optional, deferred or merely recommended.
There are two routes, and the difference is who does the work and who pays.
Route
Cost, per gov.uk
Who does the work
GOV.UK One Login
"It is free of charge"
The director, in their own name
Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)
May charge a fee
An ACSP, on the director's behalf
Gov.uk describes the first route directly: "This service uses GOV.UK One Login to verify your identity. It is free of charge." On the second: "You can ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) to verify your identity on your behalf." Both end in the same place — a personal code the company needs before the AP01 can be completed. If the incoming director is overseas, holds documents that do not sit neatly with a digital check, or simply wants someone else to run it, the paid route exists for that reason. If none of that applies, the free route is the free route.
What is form AP01 and how long do you have to file it?
Form AP01 is the Companies House filing that appoints a director to an existing company. It is the notification, not the appointment itself — the appointment happens inside your company, and the AP01 tells the register it happened. That distinction matters for the clock, because the deadline runs from the change, not from when you get round to the paperwork.
The AP01 asks for the new director's details and, per the Companies House form guidance (checked 14 September 2026), "You'll need to give the Companies House personal code for the director and confirm they have verified their identity." Without that code, the form cannot be completed truthfully, which is why the verification step has to be done and dusted before you start. Chasing a personal code while a deadline is running is the avoidable version of this job, and it is the version most companies end up doing because they followed a guide written before the rules changed.
On timing, Companies House is blunt: "You must tell Companies House within 14 days if you make changes to…your directors, or their personal details change". Fourteen days is not fourteen working days, and it is not a grace period that starts when the form is half-finished. Our advice is simple — treat the verification as the long pole in the tent and start it the moment the appointment is agreed. The filing afterwards is the quick part.
Our free guide sets out the filings and deadlines a small limited company has to hit across the year, AP01 included.
The appointment becomes part of your company's record at Companies House, alongside the confirmation that the new director has been identity-verified. In practical terms, the register is the public answer to the question "who runs this company?" — which is exactly why the verification requirement was bolted on to the front of the process.
Two things follow from that. First, the record has to be accurate on day one: the personal code and the confirmation of verification are part of what you submit, so a rushed filing with the wrong details is a correction waiting to happen. Second, the record has to stay accurate. Companies House sets out the ongoing duty in full: "You must tell Companies House about changes to your company's directors and secretaries, such as: new appointments, resignations, changes to personal details, for example residential addresses."
That means the AP01 is not the end of your obligations towards that person's entry. If the new director moves house next spring, or steps down in two years, the same 14-day duty applies. Diary it as a recurring housekeeping check rather than a one-off task.
What changes in the company's own records after the appointment?
Inside the business, a new director changes who carries authority — and a handful of things that are not Companies House filings still need to catch up. Bank mandates, payroll records, insurance schedules and any signing authorities your suppliers hold are the usual suspects. None of these are Companies House deadlines, so nobody chases you for them; they simply cause friction later when a signature does not match the mandate.
Your articles of association are worth a second read here too. They are the document that governs how your company runs day to day, and they are where any internal requirements around appointing, removing or authorising directors actually live. What applies to your company is what your own articles say.
If the company in question was bought ready-made rather than incorporated from scratch, the appointment sequence is the same but the timing is tighter, because the incoming director usually needs to be in place quickly. We cover that in adding a director after buying a shelf company.
None of this is difficult once the order is right. Verification first, personal code in hand, AP01 filed inside 14 days, internal records updated behind it. The companies that get into trouble are the ones that treat the filing as step one and discover the verification requirement halfway through the form.
If you would rather talk it through with someone who has done it before, we will point you in the right direction and, where you need an accountant, connect you with one of our partner accountants.
Can we file the AP01 before the new director has verified their identity?
No. The form requires the director's Companies House personal code and a confirmation that they have verified their identity, so the verification has to come first.
Is verifying a director's identity free?
It can be. GOV.UK One Login is described by Companies House as free of charge. An Authorised Corporate Service Provider can verify on the director's behalf instead, and may charge for that.
When exactly does the 14-day clock start?
It runs from the change itself. Companies House says you must tell them within 14 days if you make changes to your directors, so the date the appointment takes effect is the date to work back from.
Do we need a board resolution or shareholder approval to appoint a director?
Check your articles of association. Any internal approval requirement comes from your own company's constitution rather than from a single rule that applies to every limited company.
If the new director moves house later, do we have to tell Companies House?
Yes. Changes to personal details, including residential addresses, sit under the same notification duty as new appointments and resignations.
Does this apply to persons with significant control as well as directors?
Yes. The identity verification requirement that started on 18 November 2025 covers them too, from the point of appointment or incorporation.
Appointing a new director to a UK limited company runs through form AP01 — but since 18 November 2025 the first move is not the form. The person you want to appoint has to verify their identity with Companies House first, because the AP01 asks for their Companies House personal code and asks you to confirm that the verification has already happened. Gov.uk puts it plainly: "All directors must verify their identity to prove who they are." Verification is free through GOV.UK One Login, or you can pay an Authorised Corporate Service Provider to do it for you. Once the appointment is made, you have 14 days to tell Companies House — the same 14-day clock that covers resignations and changes to a director's personal details. Get the order right and the filing takes minutes. Get it wrong and you are stuck waiting on a verification you should have started first.
How do you appoint a new director?
Most guides still describe the old sequence: agree the appointment, file the form, sort out identity afterwards. That order no longer works. The appointment filing itself now carries proof that the new director has already been verified, so the verification has to be finished before you open the form. Think of it as four steps, in this order:
Agree the appointment internally and check your company's articles of association — they may set out how directors are appointed, including any resolution or approval your company has signed up to. That is a document-by-document question, not a single national rule, so read yours.
Get the new director verified with Companies House and make a note of their personal code.
File form AP01 with the personal code and the confirmation of verification.
Keep the 14-day deadline in view from the date the appointment takes effect.
Does the new director need to verify their identity first?
Yes — and this is the step that catches people out. Companies House guidance on verifying your identity (checked 14 September 2026) states that a personal code is needed "as part of your appointment filing or when you incorporate a company", a requirement in force since 18 November 2025 for new directors and persons with significant control. There is no version of this where verification is optional, deferred or merely recommended.
There are two routes, and the difference is who does the work and who pays.
Route
Cost, per gov.uk
Who does the work
GOV.UK One Login
"It is free of charge"
The director, in their own name
Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)
May charge a fee
An ACSP, on the director's behalf
Gov.uk describes the first route directly: "This service uses GOV.UK One Login to verify your identity. It is free of charge." On the second: "You can ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) to verify your identity on your behalf." Both end in the same place — a personal code the company needs before the AP01 can be completed. If the incoming director is overseas, holds documents that do not sit neatly with a digital check, or simply wants someone else to run it, the paid route exists for that reason. If none of that applies, the free route is the free route.
What is form AP01 and how long do you have to file it?
Form AP01 is the Companies House filing that appoints a director to an existing company. It is the notification, not the appointment itself — the appointment happens inside your company, and the AP01 tells the register it happened. That distinction matters for the clock, because the deadline runs from the change, not from when you get round to the paperwork.
The AP01 asks for the new director's details and, per the Companies House form guidance (checked 14 September 2026), "You'll need to give the Companies House personal code for the director and confirm they have verified their identity." Without that code, the form cannot be completed truthfully, which is why the verification step has to be done and dusted before you start. Chasing a personal code while a deadline is running is the avoidable version of this job, and it is the version most companies end up doing because they followed a guide written before the rules changed.
On timing, Companies House is blunt: "You must tell Companies House within 14 days if you make changes to…your directors, or their personal details change". Fourteen days is not fourteen working days, and it is not a grace period that starts when the form is half-finished. Our advice is simple — treat the verification as the long pole in the tent and start it the moment the appointment is agreed. The filing afterwards is the quick part.
Our free guide sets out the filings and deadlines a small limited company has to hit across the year, AP01 included.
The appointment becomes part of your company's record at Companies House, alongside the confirmation that the new director has been identity-verified. In practical terms, the register is the public answer to the question "who runs this company?" — which is exactly why the verification requirement was bolted on to the front of the process.
Two things follow from that. First, the record has to be accurate on day one: the personal code and the confirmation of verification are part of what you submit, so a rushed filing with the wrong details is a correction waiting to happen. Second, the record has to stay accurate. Companies House sets out the ongoing duty in full: "You must tell Companies House about changes to your company's directors and secretaries, such as: new appointments, resignations, changes to personal details, for example residential addresses."
That means the AP01 is not the end of your obligations towards that person's entry. If the new director moves house next spring, or steps down in two years, the same 14-day duty applies. Diary it as a recurring housekeeping check rather than a one-off task.
What changes in the company's own records after the appointment?
Inside the business, a new director changes who carries authority — and a handful of things that are not Companies House filings still need to catch up. Bank mandates, payroll records, insurance schedules and any signing authorities your suppliers hold are the usual suspects. None of these are Companies House deadlines, so nobody chases you for them; they simply cause friction later when a signature does not match the mandate.
Your articles of association are worth a second read here too. They are the document that governs how your company runs day to day, and they are where any internal requirements around appointing, removing or authorising directors actually live. What applies to your company is what your own articles say.
If the company in question was bought ready-made rather than incorporated from scratch, the appointment sequence is the same but the timing is tighter, because the incoming director usually needs to be in place quickly. We cover that in adding a director after buying a shelf company.
None of this is difficult once the order is right. Verification first, personal code in hand, AP01 filed inside 14 days, internal records updated behind it. The companies that get into trouble are the ones that treat the filing as step one and discover the verification requirement halfway through the form.
If you would rather talk it through with someone who has done it before, we will point you in the right direction and, where you need an accountant, connect you with one of our partner accountants.
Can we file the AP01 before the new director has verified their identity?
No. The form requires the director's Companies House personal code and a confirmation that they have verified their identity, so the verification has to come first.
Is verifying a director's identity free?
It can be. GOV.UK One Login is described by Companies House as free of charge. An Authorised Corporate Service Provider can verify on the director's behalf instead, and may charge for that.
When exactly does the 14-day clock start?
It runs from the change itself. Companies House says you must tell them within 14 days if you make changes to your directors, so the date the appointment takes effect is the date to work back from.
Do we need a board resolution or shareholder approval to appoint a director?
Check your articles of association. Any internal approval requirement comes from your own company's constitution rather than from a single rule that applies to every limited company.
If the new director moves house later, do we have to tell Companies House?
Yes. Changes to personal details, including residential addresses, sit under the same notification duty as new appointments and resignations.
Does this apply to persons with significant control as well as directors?
Yes. The identity verification requirement that started on 18 November 2025 covers them too, from the point of appointment or incorporation.
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