Documents

This document is right for your organisation if:

• It is a company or community interest company ("CIC") registered in England and Wales; and
• You are sending out notice of a general meeting or annual general meeting.

This document is not right for your organisation if:

• It is not a company or CIC registered in England and Wales;
• Your articles of association contain compulsory wording for proxy forms; or
• Your articles of association give specific rights to members to appoint more than one proxy (over and above the right which all members of companies limited by shares have to appoint more than one proxy to exercise rights attached to different shares).

Please Note: We recommend that for important information regarding the timing and notice requirements for proxies you should refer to the Bates Wells Get Legal checklist for general meetings. You may also find the Get Legal guide to running a charitable company limited by guarantee helpful.

If you would like more specific advice on proxy notices or any other legal issue, please contact us on getlegal@bateswells.co.uk or 020 7551 7777 and a member of our legal team will be able to let you have an estimate for providing bespoke advice.

What do I need before I start?

You should have a copy of your company's articles of association to hand. You will also need to know the following information. There will be information provided throughout the questionnaire to help you answer the questions:

• Your company’s full name;
• Your company number;
• If any members or shareholders are organisations rather than individuals;
• If the meeting is a general meeting or an annual general meeting;
• Details of when the meeting is being held;
• The wording of proposed resolutions (if you want the member to be able to specify how the proxy will vote). We have some suggested wording for the resolutions. You may use our suggested wording, or adapt it; and
• Details for returning the proxy form (do not worry the form explains rules on this but, again, you will need your articles handy to double check what they say).

Remember: If you don’t have everything you need you can make a start, save the information and return to complete the form another time.

Q: What is the process?
A: Once you have logged in and paid for the form you will be asked a series of questions. These questions help us to create exactly the right document for you. There is lots of information to help you. Once you have finished the document it will be emailed to you with more instructions about what to do next.

Q: What if I don’t have time to complete the form?
A: If you don’t have all the information you need or if you get interrupted you can save the information you have inputted and return to the document later.

Q: What if I want more information about members meetings and proxy notices?
A: You may find some other resources on Bates Wells Get Legal helpful. We have a checklist for general meetings and a guide to running a charitable company limited by guarantee useful. If you would like more specific advice on proxy notices or any other legal issue, please contact Bates Wells at getlegal@bateswells.co.uk or 020 7551 7777 and a member of our legal team will be able to give an estimate for providing bespoke advice.