COMPANY SECRETARIAL
Running a limited company comes with a set of legal duties to Companies House that have nothing to do with your accounts or tax, and the rules have just changed significantly. We keep your company compliant, on the register, and out of trouble.
What does company secretarial mean?
Every UK limited company has obligations to Companies House that sit completely apart from its accounts and tax return. This is the administrative, non-financial side of running a company: keeping your register of members up to date, filing your annual confirmation statement, and reporting any changes to your company's details and structure.
Most of the time it is routine. But getting it wrong carries real consequences. Persistent failure to file can lead to penalties, prosecution of directors, and your company being struck off the register, which then costs time and money to put right.
Your annual confirmation statement
Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, and that includes dormant and non-trading companies. It confirms that the information Companies House holds about your company, such as your directors, shareholders, registered office and people with significant control, is correct and up to date.
You must file it even if nothing about your company has changed during the review period. Companies House currently charges £50 to file online. We make sure yours is prepared accurately and submitted on time, every year, so a simple annual task never becomes a strike-off risk.
Identity verification is now a legal requirement
This is the biggest change to company filing in years, and it affects every director and every shareholder with significant control.
Since 18 November 2025, under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, all company directors and People with Significant Control (PSCs) must verify their identity with Companies House. Verification is a one-off process that gives each person a unique personal code, which they then use for every company they are involved with.
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New directors and PSCs must verify before they can be appointed.
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Existing directors and PSCs are in a transition period and must verify by their company's next confirmation statement, with the window closing on 18 November 2026.
Here is the part that catches people out: you cannot file your confirmation statement without providing the verified personal codes for your directors and PSCs, and continuing to act as an unverified director can itself be an offence. We guide you and your fellow officers through verification and make sure the right codes are in place well before your filing falls due.
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What else needs to be kept up to date?
Whenever your company's structure or details change, Companies House needs to be told, usually within strict time limits. Common changes include:
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a change to your registered office or registered email address
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a change to a director's or PSC's details, such as a home address
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appointing or removing a director or PSC
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issuing new shares to new or existing shareholders
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a share split of your existing shares
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a transfer of shares from one shareholder to another
It is also worth knowing that, since November 2025, companies no longer keep their own local registers of directors, secretaries or PSCs, because that information is now held centrally at Companies House. You must, however, still keep and maintain your own register of members, your shareholders.
Be careful here: some of these changes, particularly anything involving shares, also carry important tax implications. It is well worth taking advice before you act, not after.
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