Company Secretarial Services to Keep You Compliant With Companies House
Every UK company must file a confirmation statement at least once a year, keep statutory registers up to date and tell Companies House about changes to directors, shareholdings and registered details. We handle all of it for a fixed fee, so your company stays compliant and penalty free while you run the business.
Every UK limited company has ongoing statutory obligations that exist entirely separately from its tax and accounting requirements. Failing to meet them, even inadvertently, can result in criminal liability for the company and its directors personally, prosecution, and in the most serious cases the compulsory strike-off of your company by Companies House. Unlike late accounts, a late confirmation statement does not attract a civil penalty. It is an offence.
At Merit Accountants, our company secretarial service ensures that your company’s statutory records are always up to date, every filing deadline is met, and every change in your company’s structure is handled correctly and on time. We work alongside your annual accountancy service to provide a seamlessly coordinated compliance package.
Merit is registered with Companies House as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. Agents who file on a company’s behalf now have to be registered, so if your current agent is not, we can take the filings over.
What Our Company Secretarial Service Covers
Our service covers the full range of ongoing statutory company obligations:
Confirmation Statement (Annual Return)
Every UK limited company must file a confirmation statement at Companies House at least once every 12 months. We prepare and file this on your behalf, confirming that your company’s registered details, including registered office, SIC code, share structure, and PSC information, are accurate.
The confirmation statement must be filed within 14 days of the end of its review period. Since 4 March 2024 every company must also keep an appropriate registered email address with Companies House, and confirm on each confirmation statement that its intended future activities are lawful; the same lawful purpose statement is made on incorporation.
Registered Office Service
Your company’s registered office must be a physical UK address where legal documents can be served. We provide a registered office service at our Manchester, London, or Hertfordshire addresses, ensuring your personal address is kept off the public Companies House register.
Director and Officer Appointments & Resignations
When a director, secretary, or person with significant control (PSC) joins or leaves your company, Companies House must be notified on specific forms within 14 days. We handle all notifications accurately and on time.
Share Allotments & Transfers
Issuing new shares, transferring existing shares, and updating the company’s share register all require specific forms and entries in the statutory register. We manage the full process, including production of share certificates and updating the register.
Change of Registered Office or Company Name
Both require formal Companies House filings. We handle the process end-to-end, including updating all HMRC records to reflect the change.
Maintenance of Statutory Registers
Every company must keep a register of members. Changes to directors, secretaries and people with significant control are reported to Companies House rather than recorded in registers of your own, and we file those for you.
Identity Verification for Directors and PSCs
Since 18 November 2025 anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a UK company has had to verify their identity with Companies House and obtain a personal code. New directors and people with significant control verify before appointment, and before incorporation for a new company. Existing directors verify through their next confirmation statement, during a transition period that ends at the end of 17 November 2026. People with significant control have a separate fourteen day window that starts on a different date depending on whether they are also a director. The practical trap is simple: an unverified director stops the confirmation statement being filed at all, and a late confirmation statement is a criminal offence for the company and its officers that can end in the company being struck off. We track the position for every company we act for and get the codes in hand before the statement falls due. Our guide to the Companies House identity verification deadline sets out the dates, the PSC windows and the September 2026 prosecutions in full.
Why Keeping Statutory Records Accurate Matters
Companies House records are publicly searchable. Inaccurate or out-of-date information creates legal risk and can undermine your company’s credibility with banks, investors, and suppliers. In the context of raising finance or preparing for a business sale, a clean and up-to-date statutory record is essential. We ensure your company’s public record always reflects its true, current position.