Every UK limited company has ongoing legal filings it must keep on top of, regardless of where its directors live. Company secretarial services exist to manage that administrative burden so the company stays compliant and the directors stay out of trouble with Companies House.
What company secretarial services actually cover
Company secretarial services handle the recurring paperwork a UK company is legally required to file and maintain. For a small company, this typically means:
- Confirmation statements - an annual filing confirming the company's details are up to date, due within 14 days after each 12-month review period.
- Statutory registers - records of directors, shareholders, people with significant control (PSCs) and share capital, kept accurate and current.
- PSC filings - identifying and recording anyone who holds significant control over the company, with updates filed whenever ownership changes.
- Director and shareholder changes - filing appointments, resignations and transfers of shares correctly and on time.
- Deadline tracking - knowing exactly when each filing is due and submitting it before the window closes.
None of this is optional. A company secretarial provider simply takes the responsibility for doing it correctly off the director's plate.
Confirmation statements and deadlines
The confirmation statement is the filing most directors are aware of, because it comes round every year. It costs £50 per 12-month payment period when filed digitally (£110 on paper), and that fee covers unlimited statements within the period if anything needs updating along the way. See our confirmation statements page for how we handle this.
Missing the 14-day filing window is a criminal offence for directors and can ultimately lead to the company being struck off the register. For a director based overseas, tracking a UK statutory deadline from a different time zone with a different calendar is exactly the kind of thing that gets missed.
Registers and PSC records
Alongside the confirmation statement, a company must maintain internal registers: directors, secretaries, members, PSCs and charges. These registers need to reflect reality at all times, not just at the point of the annual filing. If a shareholder sells their stake or a new director is appointed mid-year, the registers should be updated immediately, with the change also reflected at Companies House through the correct form.
Identity verification is now part of this picture too. Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, directors and PSCs must verify their identity, with new directors required to do so from 18 November 2025 before incorporation, and existing directors and PSCs given a 12-month transition. A company secretarial provider tracks who still needs to verify and by when.
Director and shareholder changes
Appointing a new director, removing one, or transferring shares between shareholders all require specific forms filed with Companies House, usually within a set number of days of the change taking effect. Get the form or the timing wrong and the public record becomes inaccurate, which can cause problems later during due diligence, a bank account application or a sale of the business. See director & shareholder changes for fixed-price handling of these filings.
Why outsourced cosec beats DIY for overseas owners
Directors living outside the UK face a specific set of problems that make DIY company secretarial work harder than it looks:
- Time zones and deadlines - a 14-day UK filing window is easy to miscalculate when you are not working UK hours.
- Unfamiliar forms - Companies House forms assume a level of familiarity with UK company law that most overseas owners have not needed before.
- No local point of contact - if a query comes back from Companies House, someone needs to be able to respond quickly, in UK business hours.
- Consequences are personal - late confirmation statements are a criminal offence attaching to the director, not an abstract company problem.
An outsourced company secretarial service removes the guesswork. At Keystone, this is handled by a named UK qualified lawyer who deals directly with your filings rather than passing you through a ticket queue, and who replies within one UK working day. Our registered office and company secretarial support is priced at £70 a month and covers the address plus ongoing compliance: confirmation statements prepared and filed, registers maintained, and reminders sent so nothing is missed. Full detail on how this fits with the rest of our pricing is on our pricing page.
Common questions
Is company secretarial support a legal requirement?
The filings themselves (confirmation statements, register maintenance, PSC updates) are legal requirements for every UK company. Using an outsourced provider to handle them is not compulsory, but the underlying filings are.
What happens if a confirmation statement is filed late?
Late filing is a criminal offence for the directors involved, and persistent non-compliance can lead to Companies House striking the company off the register.
Can one provider handle both the registered office and the secretarial filings?
Yes. Our registered office and company secretarial support package combines a London registered office with confirmation statement filing, register maintenance and reminders for £70 a month.
Do PSC details need updating outside the annual confirmation statement?
Yes. Any change in who holds significant control should be reflected in the register and reported to Companies House when it happens, not held back for the next confirmation statement.
Is this service useful if I already have an accountant?
Yes. Accountants generally handle tax filings, not the Companies House compliance calendar. The two roles are complementary rather than overlapping.
Get started
If you would rather have someone else own your confirmation statement and register deadlines, start an enquiry on our contact page. A named UK-based specialist will reply within one UK working day and talk you through fixed pricing for ongoing company secretarial support.
This article is general information about UK filing requirements, not legal or tax advice. Requirements change - we will confirm what applies to your company before anything is filed.
