Under CA 1985 a company must include the usual residential addresses of each director in its register of directors, which is open to public inspection. The company must also give the directors’ usual residential address to Companies House, where it forms part of the publicly available information about the company. However, there is an exception for directors who are at serious risk of violence or intimidation, who may apply for a confidentiality order.

CA 2006 will, on 1 October 2009, replace the confidentiality order regime with a new provision under which all directors (and company secretaries) provide a ‘service address’ as well as a residential address. Only the service address will appear in the company’s register of directors, with the residential address going into a separate new register of directors’ residential addresses (which will then be protected information). The company will have to tell Companies House of both addresses, but because the residential address is ‘protected information’ Companies House will have to ensure it does not appear on the public register. The end result, therefore, is that directors will be able to avoid having their residential addresses made public.

Existing directors as at 1 October will continue to have their residential addresses publicly available, until such time as they change the address for service.