The difference between a shareholder and a director is that a shareholder owns the company. Sometimes there will be one shareholder, sometimes there are multiple shareholders. The shareholders are responsible for making the major decisions within a company, such as appointing directors, changing the company’s structure and amending the articles of association. The directors do not own the Company but are responsible for making the day-to-day decisions about the running of the company, such as the commercial agreements that the company enters into.  Directors are accountable to the shareholders. They have statutory duties set out by the Companies Act, and they also have duties to the shareholders, and their actions are governed by the articles of association which are written and prepared by the shareholders.