Directors don't want homes known

Some fear directors' homes may become targets

Business groups have attacked plans to make company directors' home addresses available to the public.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Institute of Directors are both opposed to the public register element of the Department of Trade & Industry's reform plans for company law.

It is only likely to encourage activists to target directors' homes and would serve no practical purpose

Ruth Lea, IoD

The CBI said: "Directors should continue registering private addresses at Companies House but the information should only be available to enforcement bodies like the police."

Maximum contract

Ruth Lea, head of the policy unit at the IOD, added: "We strongly oppose making directors' home addresses available to the general public. It is only likely to encourage activists to target directors' homes and would serve no practical purpose."

The CBI said it supported proposals to reduce the length of the initial contract a company can offer a director without seeking shareholder approval to three years from five.

But both the CBI and IoD said they were against plans to restrict subsequent contracts to just one year.

"This doesn't offer enough continuity and we think something like three years for ongoing contracts is a reasonable period of time," said Ms Lea.