A private company is not required to have a secretary, while a public company must have a secretary.

A secretary of a public company should be a person who to the directors appears to them to have the requisite knowledge and experience to discharge the functions of secretary of the company and has one or more of the following qualifications:

• that he has held the office of secretary of a public company for at least three of the five years preceding his appointment as secretary or
• that he is a person who, by virtue of his holding or having held any other position or his being a member of any other body, appears to the directors to be capable of discharging the functions of secretary of the company is a member

Members of professional bodies also qualify including Chartered Accountants, Chartered Certified Accountants, barristers or solicitors or members of CIMA or CIPFA. Members of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators also qualify.

A register of secretaries must be maintained for inspection and the registrar should be notified of appointments and changes of appointments within 14 days of any change. Secretaries may be individuals; they may also be corporate secretaries and firms.