Director – legal status or pretentious title?
12 August 2026(2025 May); (Update 2026 Aug, LinkedIn) – A director (according to Practical Law) is “a person elected by the members of a company or otherwise appointed to superintend the management of the company’s affairs. Although company directors are not strictly speaking trustees, they are in a closely analogous position because of the fiduciary duties they typically owe to the company.”
In my opinion, what a director is not is someone who clearly isn’t a director in the true legal sense, but has been given a pretentious title to give the impression to the outside world that the person is somehow more important than he/she is.
Some years ago, a chartered surveyor so-called director of Savills made a remark in an email to me that I decided was offensive, so I made a formal complaint to the RICS. As you may know, the RICS doesn’t deal with complaints. Instead, it refers the complainant to the firm concerned to resolve. So I wrote to the proper CEO of Savills. One of his colleagues, in his apology, confirmed that the so-called director wasn’t a proper director and wasn’t authorised to make executive decisions. The so-called director also apologised and that was that. Later, when I informed the RICS of the outcome, the RICS again wasn’t interested.
I am a non-executive director of a limited company whose two directors are a commercial property agent and a chartered surveyor. I am also the director of two different unrelated limited companies. So if I wanted to boost my standing in the outside world, I could legitimately call myself a director.
Currently, for a rent review referral in which I am acting for the landlord, I am drafting my Reply to the tenant’s expert witness (“EW”) chartered surveyor’s Report. In his Report, EW says he is a director of (company name). So, naturally, I checked on Companies House and he isn’t. Therefore, it’s a lie which immediately contradicts his Statement of Truth.
I suggest that executive directors of firms of surveyors, whose habit of dishing out fancy titles that misrepresent their legal status, should remember that there are people in the real world who, when they want to know with whom they’re dealing and what they’re up against, would, as I do, check whether what they’re being told is true or a lie.
Update (1) “I am a non-executive director of a limited company whose two directors are a commercial property agent and a chartered surveyor. I am also the director of two different unrelated limited companies.” I have since resigned as a non-executive director. I have also voluntarily dissolved one of the different unrelated companies. I continue to be a director of the other unrelated company.
Update (2) In May 2025, I posted (on LinkedIn) my opinion that a firm calling a surveyor a ‘director’ when clearly the person isn’t in the true legal sense, but has been given a pretentious title to give the impression to the outside world that the person is somehow more important than he/she is.
A typical reason is to give the person status, to avoid having to give them a pay rise.
On referral for rent review where the other side’s surveyor, after having been negotiator, acts as expert witness, it is usual for the surveyor to present their credentials. Credibility for an expert witness is an essential ingredient in being taken seriously. To state ‘director’ without actually holding a directorship position – authorised to make executive decisions that bind the company – may mislead clients and the public.
The misrepresentation can be considered a breach of RICS professional standards, and may lead to disciplinary action under the rules of conduct, including fixed penalties, fines, conditions on practice, or expulsion from membership. The title ‘director’ implies a governance role that comes with specific responsibilities and compliance with RICS rules of conduct. The RICS monitors compliance to ensure that members uphold the highest ethical standards. Honesty and integrity in professional dealings.
There’s more to it than that. Even if someone is not officially appointed as a director, if they are deemed by law to be a “de facto director” they may still be held accountable if they are presented as such. They could face the same legal responsibilities and liabilities as formally-appointed directors, subject to the same statutory and fiduciary duties, and the same potential civil and criminal penalties, as registered directors. And by representing the company, the person’s decisions and statements can bind the company, and lose the protection of professional indemnity insurance.
Generally, where a person is not a director in the strict sense, but simply in a managerial position, then for compliance with RICS professional standards, and in the eyes of the law, and credibility as an expert witness, the person should say so. Better to tell the truth than hope to get away with lying, a false statement.
There’s the rub: chartered surveyors are so used to dealing with other chartered surveyors at rent review that they don’t expect for one moment their ‘own’ would do anything about it. Especially amongst those chartered surveyors that take things personally and prefer to court popularity than risk a falling-out. Even third parties in procedural directions warning that breach of the RICS PS would be reported probably don’t. Simply, it’s not the done thing.
The obvious solution is for a proper director to undertake the role of expert witness and not delegate it to make-believe.
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