The Case for Virtual Annual General Meetings

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Technology has transformed the way organisations interact with stakeholders and conduct business. The emergence of virtual meetings, catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has energised the debate about the use of technology to facilitate company general meetings across the UK and globally.


The debate has become more heated during the 2025 ‘AGM season’. And the opposition is becoming more vocal with pension funds and other stakeholders lobbying against the use of virtual AGMs triggered by the UK Government’s proposals to amend the historical legal requirement that meetings be held at a physical venue, with shareholders ‘present in person’. Although this legal argument is not new, the now expired Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 temporarily permitted virtual-only AGMs during the COVID pandemic and in so doing, sparked widespread interest in modernising statutory requirements.


This is not a UK only debate, it is being rehearsed in many countries across the world (although some such as the US are much more accepting of virtual AGMs than the UK).


The case for in-person AGMs rests on the importance of physical gatherings enabling shareholders and directors to meet to discuss a company’s performance and issues of concern to shareholders.


These meetings are viewed as a cornerstone of shareholder democracy and dialogue, offering transparency and accountability. Critics contend that virtual meetings may reduce opportunities for spontaneous discussion or make it easier for boards to avoid scrutiny and cherry-pick the questions that they will answer.


These are concerns which should not be ignored.

Nevertheless, the experience of the past 30 years shows that for the vast majority of companies they are theoretical rather than real. It is easy to regard large companies in the FTSE100 with recognisable brand names as the bellweather for all public company AGMs.


They are the exception rather than the rule. For most small and mid-cap businesses, the AGM is a paltry affair where time and again, the key question being asked is whether anyone is actually going to turn up? In such companies, dialogue with the institutional shareholders is conducted away from the AGM (during the results announcement ‘roadshows’) and many individual shareholders are employees who have other avenues for raising questions about the company. For such companies, the cost and time required to hold an in-person AGM is simply wasted and the case for the virtual AGM needs to be made.


It is not just a matter of cost, a key benefit of virtual AGMs is their capacity to democratise access to the board from anywhere in the world, removing barriers created by geography, travel costs, or time constraints. Virtual platforms typically include features such as live streaming, real-time voting, and digital Q&A sessions, which ensure that remote attendees can engage as fully as those at a physical meeting. Unforeseen events—such as strikes, or extreme weather—will not prevent access. whatever the circumstances. Digital platforms are able to efficiently record proceedings which enables shareholders unable to attend in person to view the meeting later, thus extending access.


In the years following the pandemic, there was an appetite for hybrid formats, which combine the benefits of in-person and remote participation. However, experience has shown that hybrid formats are not particularly popular and can be unwieldy. Companies previously using the format have ditched the hybrid format in favour of in-person only meetings in 2025.


We would argue that the case for virtual AGMs is compelling for many, if not most, companies. If sufficient shareholders believe that in-person only meetings are necessary for the company concerned, then of course they should be allowed to mandate that through shareholder resolutions and the articles.


But for those hundreds of listed companies for whom the AGM is the ultimate demonstration of shareholder and stakeholder indifference, modernising meeting practices to facilitate the virtual AGM has to be a sensible step forward in the digital age.