NEWS | FTSE 350 Company Secretarial Structure Census
Equiniti are often asked by clients about our experience of different company’s secretariat structures. Using our extensive relationships with FTSE350 companies we surveyed our clients with questions around secretariat structure and responsibilities, with a view to providing a high level insight into structures across the market. Then, together with David Venus & Co., we analysed the results and are able to share some observational commentary based on the data collated.
1. Position Titles
FTSE 100 companies are more likely to have a deputy company secretary appointed than FTSE 250 companies. Some companies use the title Head of Secretariat or Head of Governance as opposed to Deputy Company Secretary.
Titles used for other members in the secretariats are Assistant Company Secretary, Company Secretarial Assistant and Company Secretarial Officer.
2. Company Secretariat Size
The secretariats for FTSE 100 companies range from 2 to 13 employees in size. The average size is 5 employees.
The secretariats for FTSE 250 companies range from 2 to 7 employees in size. The average size is 4 employees.
The secretariats in both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 are very lean, with 36% of the companies surveyed having 3 or fewer employees.
3. Background of the Company Secretary
The company secretary is highly likely to be legally qualified, for example, a solicitor. Of the FTSE 100 companies surveyed, 70.2% of the company secretaries held a legal qualification, whereas 23.4% were Chartered Secretaries and 6.4% were financially qualified, for example, a Chartered Accountant.
4. Division of Work in the Secretariat
The majority of the companies who responded to the survey did not rotate the secretarial functions in the secretariat. People were specialists in their areas, for example, annual report and accounts, AGM, board support, etc. Some companies did offer job rotation if an individual specifically requested it, but the norm was to segregate functions.
5. Additional Responsibilities
In addition to the routine tasks expected of the secretariat, some of the companies who responded to the survey were involved in functions that were not necessarily within the normal remit of the secretariat. For example, assisting in pensions and payroll, accountancy and tax, intellectual property, risk, insurance, corporate social responsibility, charity committee and legal work.
6. Training and Development
Most companies who responded to the survey provide both internal training to their employees as well as pay for their attendance on external courses. Due to the small size of the secretariats, the opportunities to progress within the organisation are limited with the consensus being progression management was a challenge for all. Some respondents tackled development issues by encouraging work shadowing (of the Company Secretary for example) and/or mentoring of employees. One respondent rotates the attendance by the secretariat at a particular board committee to enable employees to gain exposure to the board.
Click here to download the searchable data.
