Su Smith

Senior Manager – Company Secretarial Department

I am the senior manager of the company secretarial department. I have worked in professional practice, mainly for accountancy firms, for 30 years.

Dealing with company secretarial matters can be a burden when you have a business to run. Failure to meet statutory obligations can result in penalties, and even prosecution, not to mention the cost of putting things right. My team and I aim to take the headache out of compliance.

My particular interests lie in providing solutions to more unusual problems, for example, how does a company remove a director? What can be done to return capital to shareholders? What is the most effective way to negotiate the complex procedures of a merger or demerger?

I have recently undertaken a group re-organisation which rationalised a large group of approximately 20 companies down to one holding company and five subsidiaries. This was a lengthy exercise which took several months to complete, but which ultimately left the group with a much more manageable structure that will be far more cost-effective to maintain.