Company Director

All limited companies must have a company director when it is incorporated, this can be one company director or a Board of Directors who derive their powers from the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

As a company has its own separate legal existence, the main role of the company director is to be the interface between the company and society. The company director represents the position of the company in all its affairs, and are effectively the human consciousness of the company.

Main Duties of the Company Director

The main duties of the company director is very hard to define, the reason for this is because the role varies according to the type of company director there are, and also business field in which their company is within. Generally the company director must act within the interests of:

• The shareholders
• Their employees
• Transacting clients

Company directors’ main overriding duties are to the interests of the company itself.

Company Director - Main Types

The roles and duties of the Company Director varies according to the type of director that they are within their company, they are as follows:

• The Executive Company Director - this company director is regarded as the traditional director, with a "hands on" approach to the day-to-day running of the company. Therefore this role is mainly a senior managerial role, whereby the company director is an "employee" of the company. They would deal with the administration and have direct contact with other employees at the company.
• The Non-Executive Director - they are also known as the Chairman and have a less "hands on" approach compared to the executive company director. They are completely objective to the company's decisions and are detached from the day-to-day management. They are therefore regarded as the distant adviser or "watchdog".
• The Nominee Company Director - They are mainly known as the Corporate Financier. They have an interest in the company as they have invested money into the company and therefore would like to be informed as well as have a say as to the progress and direction of the company and hence their investment.
• The Corporate Company Director - as a company itself can be named as a director of another company it generally has to name a representative to act on their behalf. This “corporate company director” is there to oversee that company’s interests within the board structure.
• The Shadow Company Director - under whose advice or direction the company is accustomed to acting under.
• The Cosmetic Company Director - usually someone in middle management that calls themselves directors although has no legal right to. There are many roles and duties that are expected from a company director.