| Empire Award for British Best Director | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best film direction by a British director |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | Empire magazine |
| First awarded | 1996 |
| Last awarded | 2005 |
| Currently held by | Matthew Vaughn - Layer Cake (2005) |
The Empire Award for Best British Director was an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine Empire to honor a British director working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best British Director was first introduced at the 2nd Empire Awards ceremony in 1997 with Danny Boyle receiving the award for his direction of Trainspotting and last presented as an annual award at the 6th Empire Awards ceremony in 2001 with it returning for a final time at the 10th Empire Awards ceremony in 2005. It was one of three Best British awards retired that year (the others being Best British Actor and Best British Actress). Winners were voted by the readers of Empire magazine.
Since its inception, the award has been given to six directors. Guy Ritchie, Roger Michell and Shane Meadows were nominated on two occasions each, more than any other director. Matthew Vaughn was the last winner in this category for his role in Layer Cake.