Using different identities - Companies House

[LifeIsAMeatball]

TLDR: Can someone use two completely different names to register as a company director on Companies House? Eg Jennifer Broadstairs and Yvonne Greenwood?

Full story: I am part of a local group that has raised various concerns around a local animal rescue. These have been reported and there is an upcoming court case as a result related to animal welfare.

However, the “industry” is very unregulated and the more you look the more you potentially find - certainly with this group anyway (puppies being brought over from Bulgaria with apparently improper paperwork and sold etc, not a registered charity, several businesses closed down, no clear path of where donations may be going and a real concern about where big local fundraising may be, H&S, paperwork, (all coupled with the seemingly unsanitary conditions, poor welfare, potential cruelty that the court will assess).

The owner operates under at least two very different names - often replies to herself on social media etc under another alias (which I know people can do). She has however registered several businesses in both names in periods that cross over each other. These eventually get closed down for lack of reporting. Can she do this legally? I thought you can only have one legal name for this sort of stuff at once?

To add to many confusing twists and turns she has given multiple reasons for the names - eg adoption, standard name change, witness protection, anonymity for life

Up until recently Companies House carried out no checks on the identity of people setting up Companies so it would have been absolutely possible to set up multiple companies using different names.

Over the next year all directors and PSCs will be required to verify their identity and be issued with a personal ID code which must be uploaded to Companies house so it won't be as easy to use multiple names from now on

I'm going to take a wild guess that anyone telling you they're in a witness protection programme probably isn't really.

Yep. That’s the working hypothesis on this one (along with a few others on other things)

This. She will be required to verify the identities soon if she hasn't been already so she won't be able to continue using both identities. Unless of course she has been able to obtain government issued ID in both names.

Thanks. Under what circumstances might she obtain ID in both names?

I don't know but presumably fraudulent circumstances.

I’m aware of someone using different identities. She uses different parts of her name or shortened versions of her surname so they don’t come up as the same person if you search for an individual. The new ID requirements will hopefully sort out these people as most of them are scammers in one form or another.