Governance and secretariat services

Helping your board make confident decisions and keep your organisation moving forward.

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Strong governance helps organisations make better decisions which help steer your organisation towards achieving its strategic goals. At Howden, we offer bespoke governance and secretariat support, advice and resources to boards – including corporate, pension scheme and charities – tailored to each client’s unique needs.  

We view effective governance and secretarial practices as the foundation of a robust, resilient, and well-run organisation and not just a box-ticking exercise. Our team is here for the long-term, ready to help your organisation achieve its goals now and in the future.  

Our expertise, built on diverse experiences across different sectors, enables us to help your organisation mitigate risks, improve decision-making and implement tailored, practical solutions. This can contribute to greater success and long-term value for all your stakeholders.

To make board management even simpler, we can also provide access to BoardClic's self-service dashboards for board evaluations and reporting.

Who we support

  • Public limited companies (PLC)

    Our experts help clients across the Main Market, AIM, and other stock exchanges navigate through the dynamic and complex regulatory landscape.

  • Private companies and family offices

    We can help private equity / venture capital backed companies and family offices comply with appropriate governance frameworks.

  • Independent schools

    Board effectiveness is a crucial part of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations (2014), which we can help review and improve.

  • Financial services

    Our experts can help cater to the specific governance needs of fintech, banks, pension funds, investment trusts, asset managers and insurers.

  • Not-for-profit

    We facilitate charities, industrial bodies, professional bodies, universities, and royal charter bodies to lead with integrity and purpose through compliance.

  • Sports boards

    Qualify to receive government or lottery funding through your compliance with the UK Sports Governance Code.

How we can help

  • Managing corporate governance documents and processes.
  • Advising on governance regulations, best practices, and risk management frameworks.
  • Supporting board activities, including reporting and subsidiary governance.
  • One-off or regular outsourcing / secondment support. 

  • Supporting internal and external reviews.
  • Conducting individual director, board and committee evaluation.
  • Conducting skills assessments, CEO/Chair evaluations and management team evaluations.
  • Director Training and Induction: Exec, Non-Exec, iNED. 

Helping you understand, report and act on your gender and ethnicity pay gap data.

  • Reporting
  • Benchmarking
  • Practical insights from your data 

  • Planning and logistics.
  • Drafting agendas.
  • Meeting pack creation.
  • Minutes and action logs.
  • Review of meeting structure / cycle. 

  • Annual report.
  • AGM process.
  • Filing.
  • RNS. 

  • Companies House fillings.
  • Interim CoSec support. 

  • Risk Register and internal control framework management.
  • Monitoring actions arising from Internal audits.
  • Setting up and overseeing systems to process expenses and invoices. 

  • DEI Policy drafting.
  • Advising on inclusive culture framework.
  • Gender pay gap reporting and analysis. 
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Let’s connect

At Howden, we offer bespoke board management support, advice and resources, tailored to your unique needs.

Our expertise enables us to help your organisation put in places the processes that enable greater success and long-term value for all your stakeholders.

Get in touch

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