Many directors, busy running their companies in difficult economic times, may regard the question of their duties as a director to be a largely abstract concern to which little attention needs to be paid.

However, the breach of those duties can have serious real life consequences, from claims against the director by the company or, more usually, a liquidator if the company fails and goes into insolvent liquidation, to the risk of being disqualified from acting as director on the application of the secretary of state for a period ranging from two years to, in the most extreme cases, 15 years.