New Template

With the statutory and regulatory landscape requiring even small private companies to consider their governance and compliance obligations (think for example of the relatively recent persons with significant control – PSC – requirements), the role of a company secretary is more important than ever. Whilst private companies are not required to appoint a company secretary, the duties and functions of a company secretary must still be fulfilled. The Companies Act 2006 does not specifically set out the duties of a company secretary, but many are implied by the fact that a company secretary is an officer of the company and therefore liable to prosecution for failure to comply with certain statutory requirements.

As such we have this month produced a brand new Company Secretarial Services Agreement that allows a company to engage a contractor with the relevant expertise to provide company secretarial type services to a company. Note that as the auditors of a company cannot be the company secretary, this type of contractor arrangement provides a useful alternative to a company having to employ someone specifically to carry out this increasingly important role.

The range of responsibilities and duties that the contractor will take on will depend on the size of the company and can vary from purely administrative functions, such as keeping the statutory registers up to date and filing all relevant documents with Companies House, to providing high level strategic support. This template sets out the services that the appointee will provide in a schedule that can be added to or adjusted to suit the individual company’s requirements.

This new template complements our other company secretary templates and will be of interest to all those involved in the management and administration of companies.