Do you act as company secretary, or do you support ours?

Either. A private company is not required to appoint a secretary, and most of ours do not; we do the work without holding the office. Where a company does have a secretary, or a general counsel who holds the function, we support them rather than duplicate them.

Our registers have not been kept up. Is that a problem?

It is common and it is fixable. We reconstruct the registers from the filed history and from what you can tell us, document the gaps honestly rather than inventing entries, and bring the record current. It is far better done before a buyer, a bank or an investor asks for it.

Who decides whether someone is a person with significant control?

The company does, and it is a judgement about the nature of control rather than a headcount of shareholders. Rights held through another company, through a trust, or under an agreement between shareholders can all create a PSC where the share register alone would not suggest one. We work it out with you and record the reasoning, because the reasoning is what you will need if it is ever questioned.

Can you handle a share transaction mid-year?

Yes, and that is the point of the relationship rather than an extra. An allotment, a transfer, a buy-back or a change of class is documented as it occurs, with the board minute, the resolution and the certificate produced at the time, and the filing made when it is due.

What is not included?

Anything that is a legal or tax opinion rather than a corporate record: drafting a shareholders' agreement, advising on the tax consequences of a reorganisation, or valuing shares. We will tell you plainly when you need a solicitor or an accountant rather than doing a worse version of their work.

Company secretarial

The record, kept as the company actually is

Statutory registers, share transactions and officer changes written up as they happen. The alternative is reconstructing three years of history the week a buyer's solicitor asks for it.

£395a year for an existing company, with the registered office and the confirmation statement

What it costs What the work covers

The work

Four things, done continuously rather than annually

Statutory registers

The register of members, of directors, of directors' residential addresses, of secretaries and of persons with significant control, opened at incorporation and kept current afterwards. Held in a form you can produce on request, because a company must be able to, and branded rather than printed off a template.

Share transactions

Allotments, transfers, buy-backs, subdivisions and new classes. Each one produces a board minute, the resolution it needed, an updated register entry and a share certificate, at the time it happens. Stamp duty, where it arises on a transfer, is flagged to you rather than left to be discovered.

Officers and control

Appointments, resignations, changes of name or address, and changes in the nature of control held by a PSC. Filed within the statutory periods, which are shorter than most founders expect, and reflected in the registers at the same time rather than in a separate exercise later.

Filings and deadlines

The confirmation statement prepared and filed, the accounts reference date watched, and every deadline monitored on your behalf. You are told a date is coming; you are not asked to remember it.

Who this is for

Companies that will one day be looked at closely

A fund manager in the middle of an FCA application, a company being sold, a business taking outside investment or a firm that has simply grown past the point where the founder can remember what was agreed. In each case someone is about to read the register properly, possibly for the first time.

Existing Fundsure compliance clients needing entity maintenance
Companies approaching an investment round or a sale
Groups formed in stages, where the structure outgrew the paperwork
Companies with corporate shareholders or a trust in the ownership chain
Firms under FCA authorisation, where the register is part of the application
Anyone who has inherited a company whose records are incomplete

750+

directors and persons with significant control verified

AP003554

Authorised Corporate Service Provider registration

HMRC

supervised as a trust or company service provider

APCC

member of the Association of Professional Compliance Consultants

Questions

What people ask before moving their records

Complex structures are worth a conversation

Multiple share classes, corporate shareholders, a trust in the ownership chain or a group formed in stages are all things we would rather discuss than have you guess at in a form. Everything else you can complete online, at whatever hour suits the time zone you are in.

Speak to us 020 7898 8522

Steve Middleton, director. Calls to the number above reach him or the person handling your company, not a queue.

Fundsure Limited is supervised by HM Revenue and Customs as a trust or company service provider and is registered with Companies House as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, also known as a Companies House authorised agent, under registration AP003554. Fundsure is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Companies House does not endorse or recommend authorised agents.