Company Secretary

The lowdown on what it’s really like. One woman talks about her work and life.

Name: Emma Thomas

Name: 33

Job title: Group Company Secretary, Nestor Healthcare Group plc

Top survival tip
Develop a sense of humour and learn to be patient – especially when other people try to ignore your advice when they haven’t thought through an issue you’ve spent hours working on.

The reaction
When I tell people what I do for a living the usually ask, ‘Why, if you have qualified as a solicitor, do you work as a secretary?’

The day-to-day
I don’t have a typical day. One day I could be spending most of my time helping to write the Company’s annual report and accounts. The next, I could be preparing for a board meeting, attending meetings on a new project to buy a company or negotiate a new joint venture, advising the managing director and looking into a new employee benefit plan.

The ‘core’ part of my role is to look after the board of directors and to make sure they are properly advised. I attend all board meetings, minute them and make sure the relevant information is circulated so that informed decisions are made. I advise the directors on all aspects of Company law and the Rules of the Financial Services Authority. These rules regulate how publicly quoted companies should regulate their affairs.

I am an officer of the company, which means that I can sign documents on the company’s behalf. As I am also a solicitor, this normally means I review and sign all important contracts. As a senior member of the executive team, I tend to become involved with most important issues dealt with centrally by the company.

The past
When I was small, I had a vague idea about being an actress.

Getting started
I trained as a solicitor (which I found a boring but good, solid business grounding). I was a junior lawyer in a large City firm of solicitors then moved to become assistant company secretary at a food manufacturing company. It suited me really well as it was an opportunity to work at a ‘proper’ legal job outside London and was also a chance to use my skills in a business environment.