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Company Formation FAQ - The Secretary of a Public Company

A private company is not required to have a company secretary (unless its articles of association explicitly require the company to have a secretary). A public company still needs to have a company secretary.

The appointment or termination of the appointment of a company secretary must be notified to Companies House on prescribed forms. You will need to use form AP03 for appointments and form TM02 for terminations of appointments. Company secretaries are not required to disclose their usual residential address and may nominate a service address instead.

The company secretary of a public company must satisfy one or more of the following requirements: -

While the legislation does not generally specify the role of the company secretary, the company secretary might normally undertake the following duties: -

As the secretary is an officer of the company, they may be criminally liable for defaults committed by the company. For example failure to file - in the time allowed - any change in the details of the company's directors and secretary, and the company's annual return.