Directors Roles & Responsibilities
Directors Roles & Responsibilities
Author
Discussion

Pursyluv

Original Poster:

1,949 posts

203 months

Monday 1st October 2012
quotequote all
I work for a family owned construction company (turnover circa £40m per annum).

The companies shares are held by the 2 family members, however there are a further 3 Directors registered at Companies House, one of which is my "line manager" - these Directors sit on the "board" and all have active roles in the daily running of the business.

My post has recently changed from Operations Manager to Operations Director, however i have not been invitied to sit on the "board" and will therefore not be registering at Companies House.

My question is - Does the title of Director attract further responsibilities specifically to matters of health and safety.

V88Dicky

7,366 posts

212 months

Monday 1st October 2012
quotequote all
As a 'director', you have to fleece the company for as much moolah as possible, by convincing the owner that they cannot possibly survive without you. Ensure that you send as many pointless e-mails as possible to your overworked and underpaid engineering manager / supervisors, to make YOU look busy. When your maintenance department gets a vital machine back up and running, be sure to remind the MD that YOU and YOU ALONE have fixed it.

Couple of little things also, don't miss the weekly 'directors' meeting at the coffee and donut shop round the corner, and NEVER EVER, no matter how many problems there are, stay behind one minute longer than necessary.

Just sayin'

biggrin

blueg33

46,323 posts

253 months

Monday 1st October 2012
quotequote all
Sounds like just a title to me. If you don't sign a 288 form from Companies House then you are not a Director in the legal sense (as far as I am aware)

It is common for construction companies to call people Directors when they are not.

Pursyluv

Original Poster:

1,949 posts

203 months

Monday 1st October 2012
quotequote all
V88Dicky said:
As a 'director', you have to fleece the company for as much moolah as possible, by convincing the owner that they cannot possibly survive without you. Ensure that you send as many pointless e-mails as possible to your overworked and underpaid engineering manager / supervisors, to make YOU look busy. When your maintenance department gets a vital machine back up and running, be sure to remind the MD that YOU and YOU ALONE have fixed it.

Couple of little things also, don't miss the weekly 'directors' meeting at the coffee and donut shop round the corner, and NEVER EVER, no matter how many problems there are, stay behind one minute longer than necessary.

Just sayin'

biggrin
Err thanks biggrin

Pursyluv

Original Poster:

1,949 posts

203 months

Monday 1st October 2012
quotequote all
blueg33 said:
Sounds like just a title to me. If you don't sign a 288 form from Companies House then you are not a Director in the legal sense (as far as I am aware)

It is common for construction companies to call people Directors when they are not.
That is indeed what i was told, however i thought it was worth the question as the 100 or so site ops work for me directly whereas the board directors only deal with the Commercial/Sales side of the business.

Yes you're right regarding job titles, although i'm the first at our Company, hence the question.

Nice Tuscan by the way thumbup

blueg33

46,323 posts

253 months

Monday 1st October 2012
quotequote all
Pursyluv said:
That is indeed what i was told, however i thought it was worth the question as the 100 or so site ops work for me directly whereas the board directors only deal with the Commercial/Sales side of the business.

Yes you're right regarding job titles, although i'm the first at our Company, hence the question.

Nice Tuscan by the way thumbup
Board Directors generally have financial responsibility and have to be sure that the company is trading solvently.

Personally, I would ask for some involvement at Board meetings, maybe ask to attend alternate ones etc, its good experience and you get a good insight into decision making. Do they have regular Board meetings? The companies I am a Director of, hold Board Meetings monthly.

Thanks for the Tuscan comment smile I see you have a Tam, one of those will be my next TVR

Pursyluv

Original Poster:

1,949 posts

203 months

Monday 1st October 2012
quotequote all
blueg33 said:
Pursyluv said:
That is indeed what i was told, however i thought it was worth the question as the 100 or so site ops work for me directly whereas the board directors only deal with the Commercial/Sales side of the business.

Yes you're right regarding job titles, although i'm the first at our Company, hence the question.

Nice Tuscan by the way thumbup
Board Directors generally have financial responsibility and have to be sure that the company is trading solvently.

Personally, I would ask for some involvement at Board meetings, maybe ask to attend alternate ones etc, its good experience and you get a good insight into decision making. Do they have regular Board meetings? The companies I am a Director of, hold Board Meetings monthly.

Thanks for the Tuscan comment smile I see you have a Tam, one of those will be my next TVR
Yes there are monthly board meetings which i contribute a report for, other than that no invitation as yet, i'll keep working on them.

Tams are great value, for me it's the noise, the handling and being a full convertible that convinced me to ditch the Cerb

Eric Mc

125,606 posts

294 months

Tuesday 2nd October 2012
quotequote all
The legal definition of who and who isn't a formal "director" of a company is not as straightforward as you might think.

First of all, having the word "director" in your job title e.g. sales director, project director etc) does not make you a formal director.

To be a "formal", legally appointed director, as set out under the 2006 Companies Act, you need to be formally appointed and registered as such at Companies House. This is either done at the set-up of the company or later by the filing of a Form AP01 (Appointment of Director). Note that the old style Form 288 was abolished with the introduction of the 2006 Companies Act.

However, a person who has not been formally appointed as a director (as set out above) can be deemed to be a director if they behave in a certain way i.e. they are acting like a director in that they are exercising control over the company and are influencing the decision making process of the company board.

This can be done by a "shadow director". A Shadow Director is someone not listed as a formal director but who still has a substantial influence on the company's decision making process. You often see this when a person is barred from being a director - for whatever reason - but still controls the company unofficially.

So, you can see that, in certain circumstances, the way someone behaves can be enough to demonstrate that they have been acting as a director.

Davel

8,982 posts

287 months

Tuesday 2nd October 2012
quotequote all
Surely if you are a Director of the company, your name and address has to be shown on the Annual Return, which is sent to Companies House every year.


Pursyluv

Original Poster:

1,949 posts

203 months

Tuesday 2nd October 2012
quotequote all
Having read the above replies and a bit more on the internet it's quite clear that it is just a title and as such my H & S responsibilities are probably no more onerous than when my title was Operations Manager.
Thanks for your input
Bob