3 juin 2025 Wilma Rix Corporate Governance

AGM formats – what’s market practice and how might it change?

The GC100, an association of GCs and company secretaries at the UK's largest listed companies, has published the results of a poll into how listed companies are currently holding general meetings of shareholders, and whether this might change in the future. In the meantime, market practice amongst the FTSE 350 in 2025 so far indicates that a physical AGM remains the most popular option.

Virtual only general meetings

The GC100 poll sought to elicit listed company views on the extent to which they might be willing to adopt fully virtual meetings if legal queries in relation to the meaning of the word “place" in Section 311 of the Companies Act 2006 were to be addressed. The Government promised to consider clarifying the law in October 2024 to help to modernise existing practices. As a result, the question of whether UK companies can, and should, move towards fully virtual general meetings has again become a hot topic.

Companies in favour are interested in the possibility of greater convenience and cost savings, as well as attendee security. In the 2025 season so far there have been protests outside a number of physical venues, and Barclays Bank and Drax (a FTSE 250 energy company) also saw significant disruption inside their meeting halls.

Companies will, however, also need to negotiate existing guidance from UK investor organisations, the Financial Reporting Council, and proxy advisors. This continues to recommend that hybrid meetings are the best option for an AGM.

Meanwhile a significant proportion of listed companies currently continue to prefer to hold physical AGMs. Some of these are disappointed in the marked lack of investor interest in participating in online options they have already made available. Others are concerned about higher costs and greater complications in the running of a partial, or even fully, online meeting.

Key poll findings from the GC100

  • 2024/2025 AGM format and attendance – The most used format continues to be a physical-only meeting. The survey also found that the format has no discernible impact on voting trends given that only a very small amount of the votes received at an AGM are cast at the meeting itself, whether attendees attend physically or online.
  • Q&A – 93% of respondents allow questions to be asked in advance of the AGM, with most answers provided by email, and/or published online. Answers might also be provided at the AGM. Companies stated that they were typically asked between one to 15 questions, with the Q&A session usually lasting for a period between a quarter of an hour and an hour. There was no clear difference in the quality of the questions raised by those in the room, compared to those attending remotely.
  • Views on AGM formats – A majority of respondents stated that their choice of meeting format was governed by cost and attendance considerations. Many companies confirmed that there appears to be little demand for online attendance options.
  • Section 311 CA 2006 and the appetite for moving to virtual-only meetings – Nearly half of the respondents stated that legal uncertainties around Section 311 had been a determining factor in deciding not to hold a virtual meeting. Roughly two-thirds thought that they would choose a virtual format if Section 311 was amended to expressly allow for this. Most of this number, however, would only want to go ahead if they were not obliged to amend the company's articles to be allowed to do so.

GC100 methodology

The results of the poll are not necessarily representative of views of smaller companies or across the FTSE 350. A total of 46 companies responded (none of which had held a virtual meeting in 2024), and not all of those 46 answered every question. The poll ran until 28 March 2025.

Wider information about market practice to date

  • Physical AGMs – Our own reviews of market practice amongst the FTSE 350 confirm that a physical-only AGM continues to be the most widely used format. This year, up to the end of May, over two-thirds of all the FTSE 350 which had published their notice of meeting opted for a purely physical meeting (68%). A further 13% of listed companies chose a physical meeting with some electronic add-ons, such as webcasts. This means that overall most of the FTSE 350 have this year so far chosen a fully or mainly physical option (over 80%).
  • Hybrid and virtual – Only 14% of the FTSE 350 have opted for a hybrid AGM this year, and fewer than a handful of smaller companies are already holding fully virtual AGMs. Within the FTSE 250 these include Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc, Clarkson plc and Bakkavor Group plc. In the FTSE 100, Haleon plc also stated that it would hold a fully virtual meeting, broadcast from its London office.
  • Digitally-enabled meetings – A limited number of companies (three so far in 2025) are also choosing to discourage physical attendance at the AGM, in favour of online participation. Typically a physical place of meeting (which may also be a “broadcasting location") will be provided but with shareholders encouraged to attend online only. Shareholders may also be asked to pre-register if they do wish to attend physically. The quality of the digital offering can be higher if using a dedicated recording or TV studio, and it may be more efficient for directors to be able to take part in the AGM online but without all being in the same physical location.