It is easy to terminate the appointment of a Director using Inform Direct. All the paperwork is prepared and the relevant filings are made immediately to Companies House.

Note: If a Director has died you would record this as a termination using the below process.

1. Go to the Officers tab

2. Click on the pencil opposite their name.

3. Click on the 'Terminate appointment as director option'

4. This will take you to the below screen.

5. Use the calendar function to enter the date they ceased to be a director and click next.

Note: Subscribers to Inform Direct can choose to leave the date of appointment blank, or enter a future to prepare the action for approval.

6. Before submitting the officer removal to Companies House there is an opportunity to produce a summary document, this can be used to get approval before making the submission. Selecting Yes will take you through the process to create the approval document. How do I prepare draft documents to remove an officer?

Selecting No does not create the summary document and proceeds to step 7 below.

Note: The approval document feature is only available to subscribers to the software. What are the benefits of subscribing to Inform Direct?

7. You will then see a summary of the proposed removal. If the details are correct click the red "Submit to Companies House" button.

8. When Companies House accept the submission their status will show in grey as 'Former.' Until Companies House accept the resignation it will show in orange as 'pending'.

Companies House will show the TM01 as being filed.

Does a company have to have a director? What happens if I remove the last one, or there is a gap between a resignation and a new appointment?

Yes. A private company must have at least one director, and at least one director must be a natural person (an individual, not a company). Inform Direct will let you terminate the last director, but the company is then left without a director and is in breach of this requirement, so a new director should be appointed as soon as possible (see How Do I Appoint an Individual as a Director?).

While the company has no director you cannot file a confirmation statement, and a company that is left without a natural person director may eventually be dissolved by Companies House. We cannot give legal advice, so if you are unsure about the position for a particular company, please take advice from a solicitor.

Also known as: does a company need a director, minimum number of directors, company with no directors, last director resigned, can I remove the only director, no director on the company, company without a director, no natural person director, gap between director resignation and appointment, can I file a confirmation statement with no director, will Companies House strike off a company with no director.