Shareholder meeting timetable

There are many deadlines surrounding a shareholder meeting. Use our timetable to help you keep track.

Deadlines

Most of the deadlines set out in the timetable are found in the Companies Act 2006. Check your company’s articles to see if, where this is allowed, alternative deadlines are set, or whether additional deadlines are imposed for other actions leading up to or following a meeting. For example, Table A Articles allow a poll to be taken after a meeting, and set out notice requirements for this, while the Model Articles require polls to be taken at a meeting so there are no applicable deadlines. Also bear in mind that not all of the deadlines in the timetable will be applicable to all meetings.

Clear days

Where required, the deadlines take “clear days” into account. This means that the day of the meeting and the day of the relevant event, e.g. notice being served, are not included in calculating the number of days. You will also have to take your method of service into account: see our Deemed Service Times for Company Communication Summary for the relevant time to add on. This timetable adds on two days to take account of deemed service of the notice of the meeting, as 48 hours is the most common deemed service period.

Example

A company wants to hold a general meeting on the 30th of the month. It must give the shareholders at least 14 clear days’ notice. The notices are sent out to the shareholders on the 13th of the month at the latest. They are deemed to have been served on the 15th. The 15th and 30th are not included in the 14-day notice period to allow for the clear days rule. The shareholders are given exactly the minimum 14 clear days’ notice of the meeting.