Can a director sign a contract if the person being interviewed is not the director

[BurningRanger]

Basically, I want to make my spouse the only director of the company, but I would be doing the interview and work. Has anyone come across this situation (either done it yourself or know first hand someone who has). Are agents accepting of it?

[eek]

Why? Are you banned from being a director because by the sounds of it you would remain a shadow director.

[Chris Bryce]

Are agents accepting of it?

It varies, but IME (a while ago), no.

[ladymuck]

Agencies don't like to engage with SME's where there is ambiguity over persons with significant control (a term worth looking up). If you were contracting direct with the end client, then they'd be more amenable.

As eek said, you'd be a shadow director in your scenario (another term worth looking up) which raises lots of red flags.

[avonleigh]

Some agencies will be ok with it and some won't. I would be careful as having a spouse as a sole director though. HMRC will probably take a dim view of it unless you have good reasons to do so.

[northernladuk]

Some agencies will be ok with it and some won't. I would be careful as having a spouse as a sole director though. HMRC will probably take a dim view of it unless you have good reasons to do so.

My experience has been 100% no in the last 10 years. Not a single agent I've signed would have dealt with soemone that wasn't the major shareholder.

[BurningRanger]

Why? Are you banned from being a director because by the sounds of it you would remain a shadow director.

No, I'm not.

[BurningRanger]

Some agencies will be ok with it and some won't. I would be careful as having a spouse as a sole director though. HMRC will probably take a dim view of it unless you have good reasons to do so.

It's either illegal or it isn't. As far as I'm aware being a sole director with your spouse as an employee isn't illegal, if it were, thousands of small companies in the UK would be set up illegally.

As for whether an agency would be ok with it - my thoughts on this matter line up with what has been mentioned on this thread. Bugger.

[hobnob]

It's either illegal or it isn't. As far as I'm aware being a sole director with your spouse as an employee isn't illegal, if it were, thousands of small companies in the UK would be set up illegally.

I agree with you that it isn't illegal. However, I'd be surprised if it's as common as you think. There are a lot of cases where the spouse will be a shareholder and be paid a salary for "admin tasks" (or a similar excuse), but they're not an employee unless they have an employment contract. Likewise, I think the director and spouse will often take the most tax efficient salary (below minimum wage), which you can't do as an employee.

If you were doing "true" business to business then this shouldn't be a problem. I.e. if your clients are dealing with YourCo as an entity rather than you personally, they shouldn't know/care about the internal org chart. However, if you're interviewing for roles as a contractor, it's a bit different.

The arrangement you're suggesting is similar to what umbrella companies do, and that might be the best option for you.

[WTFH]

It's either illegal or it isn't. As far as I'm aware being a sole director with your spouse as an employee isn't illegal, if it were, thousands of small companies in the UK would be set up illegally.

As for whether an agency would be ok with it - my thoughts on this matter line up with what has been mentioned on this thread. Bugger.

Perhaps a simpler question for you to answer honestly would be why do you not want to be a director of your own company if you are the one doing the work?

By not having yourself as a director you are deliberately creating a scenario that will cause you issues when trying to run your business, which makes it sound like not a good idea, or that you are avoiding telling us the pertinent information.