A private company limited by shares in the United Kingdom must have, at minimum, one shareholder, one director, and one secretary. Currently, a sole director cannot also act as the secretary; this will change with the implementation of the provisions of the new legislation, the Companies Act 2006, which will see the removal of the requirement for a company to have a secretary, and will make it possible for a company to be formed by a single person.
A public company limited by shares in the United Kingdom must have, at minimum, one shareholder, two directors, and one formally qualified secretary.
Instead of having shareholders and issuing shares, a company limited by guarantee has members, the role of which is analogous to the role of the shareholder in a company limited by shares.
The initial members, or shareholders of a company are known as the subscribers of a company: they are the people who sign the formation documents.
The directors and secretary of a company may also be shareholders of a company. All of the appointees to a company may be either individual people, or other companies, except that, if there is only one director, then that director must be an individual.
There are no restrictions with respect to the nationality, place of residence, or visa status of the appointees of a company in the United Kingdom.