An AGM (annual general meeting) is the yearly shareholders' meeting every company (except a one person company) must hold under section 96 of the Companies Act 2013. It must be held within six months of the financial year end — 30 September for a March year-end — with no more than 15 months between two AGMs. The first AGM gets nine months from the first year end.
The ordinary business is fixed: adopt the audited financial statements, declare any dividend, appoint or ratify auditors, and reappoint directors retiring by rotation. The meeting needs 21 clear days' notice to members (shorter with the prescribed consent), must be held during business hours on a working day, and for private companies is typically at the registered office. Minutes go into the minutes book within 30 days.
The AGM date is the anchor for the ROC calendar: AOC-4 is due within 30 days of it and MGT-7 within 60 days. Hold the AGM late — or not at all — and both filings are automatically in default territory. For a two-shareholder family company the AGM is often a paper exercise, but the paper still has to exist and the dates must be internally consistent across notice, minutes and ROC forms.
Common mistakes: backdating an AGM to 30 September during a November filing scramble (the notice, attendance and minutes rarely hold up together), and assuming a company with no profits can skip the meeting. Adoption of accounts, not dividend, is the point — a loss-making year still needs its AGM.
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Reviewed to the law in force in FY 2026-27. General information, not advice — confirm the position for your facts before acting.