When is a Director not a Director

[J. Webster]

We had an application for a senior post from someone claiming to be the Operations Director of his company. The records of his company at Companies House did not list his name as a current director, nor had there been any any past records of his appointment. On requesting further clarification of his claim of being Operations Director, he replied that he was not a "statutory" director (his words) and did not sit on the board, but the employers had given him the title of Operations Director. Is this entirely legal? Can an employee be titled as a director without proper election and Companies House informed? By representing himself as Operations Director has he broken any regulations or committed any offence?

 

[kulture]

A director can be a title. An "operations director" can be just a fancy way to give a title instead of "Operations Manager"

 

[Ian J]

Can an employee be titled as a director without proper election and Companies House informed? By representing himself as Operations Director has he broken any regulations or committed any offence?

In my own industry most salesmen are either Regional or Sales Directors but don't sit on the board

 

[DontAsk]

You can be director of anything, without being a company director.

I am surprised anyone who has enough employees to be recruiting for a senior post does not know this.

 

[Ian J]

I am surprised anyone who has enough employees to be recruiting for a senior post does not know this.

Was that really necessary?

J. Webster Most of us are really friendly but there's always one isn't there

 

[The Byre]

By representing himself as Operations Director has he broken any regulations or committed any offence?

Some jurisdictions (but not the UK or the US) do make certain title and/or competence misrepresentations a criminal offense, but this is only when representing themselves as company officers such as a director with power of attorney when this is not the case, or claiming academic qualifications that they do not have.

But many companies call roles of directing some operation within a company 'Director of This, That and the Other' freely and often. I got a job with British Steel during student days filling in forms about what charges are to be put into a 70-ton ladle of molten steel and I was, therefore 'Charge Director'!

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

If he is a b££££ter he might do more damage than good .

 

[Mark T Jones]

In line with the above it is legal to have director in your title without a board position.

Whilst I personally view this approach to titles as vanity and nonsense, I certainly wouldn't hold it against an applicant for using the title they have been given

 

[SERC1204]

On a simialr vein, you can be considered a director without without the title/Co. House regsitration "shadow director".

 

[Lisa Thomas]