What financial and non-financial information must UK companies disclose to the public?

UK companies are required to disclose certain financial and non-financial information, both in general and through their annual reports and accounts. This information must be made available to shareholders and filed publicly on the open register at Companies House. Publicly traded companies must also publish their annual reports and accounts to the market.

The information a company is required to disclose depends on the company’s size, whether it is publicly traded or not and, if it is, on which markets. In this instance, the size of a company depends on its turnover, balance sheet total and number of employees.

Information that all companies must disclose to the public includes the following:

  • The company’s constitution, including articles of association and copies of certain resolutions passed by shareholders.
  • Details of its share capital.
  • General financial information for each financial year, including a profit and loss account and balance sheet.
  • Details of board directors, the secretary and registered office, and details of persons with significant control over the company.

Almost all companies must also prepare and file an annual directors’ report, containing information on the company directors and the company audit. Larger companies must also provide information on how directors worked to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others. Companies with more than 250 UK employees in the financial year must also provide information on how the directors engaged with those employees. In addition, medium- and large-sized companies are required publish an annual strategic report.

Certain publicly traded companies must also publish a non-financial information statement within their strategic report, a directors’ remuneration report and a directors’ remuneration policy.

Publicly traded companies and very large private companies are required to publish a corporate governance statement explaining their corporate governance arrangements.

Companies with 250 or more UK employees by 31 March in each year must also make public information on any existing gender pay gap.

Additional disclosure requirements for publicly traded companies include the requirement to disclose any inside information to the market without delay (except in certain circumstances where they are permitted to delay disclosure), and the requirement to notify the market of any significant transactions and transactions with related parties, if they are not required to seek shareholder approval.

John leads a global team at Integrity Governance that is focused on making boards more effective. A boardroom expert working with multinationals, SMEs, trade associations and not-for-profits, he provides practical, impartial advice to directors, business owners, executives and CEOs, to help improve board performance. He has 30 years of experience at director level in the corporate world, having worked at blue chip businesses including: Mars, Schroders and Goldman Sachs.

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