Market Standards Trend Report
Format of AGM
Whilst there are strictly just three legal types of AGM format (hybrid, physical and virtual), on review of this season's AGM formats we have divided up our analysis in line with four types of meeting we identified this season:
- physical only AGMs, where shareholders attend and participate solely in person with no live webcast option
- physical AGM with live webcast, where attendees attend and participate physically, but with the ability for others to remotely view a non-interactive webcast of the AGM (which does not enable virtual attendance or voting)
- hybrid AGMs, giving a dual option for in-person attendance or virtual participation with attendance, voting and Q&A capabilities in either case, and
- fully virtual AGMs, held exclusively online with comprehensive attendance, voting and engagement options for remote participants
There was a change in the trends regarding meeting format this season. In 2024, two hybrid meetings featured restricted physical attendance (and we specifically listed these as a different type of meeting format). We wondered if this might be an emerging trend, but it has not been followed this season. We did not identify any examples of companies holding hybrid meetings which officially restricted the physical attendance at the in-person meeting. However, we did find six examples of companies holding hybrid meetings but giving varying degrees of encouragement to attend virtually (or discouraging physical attendance). We have included further details below. This variety of approaches highlights the evolving flexibility of AGMs in addressing accessibility and engagement preferences.
We expect to see trends for meeting formats further evolve next AGM season, given the GC100’s recent report (GC100 Guidance for Virtual Meetings of Shareholders, published 5 December 2025), which includes best practice guidance on holding virtual AGMs. The new guidance emphasises the government’s appetite to modernise company law and procedure and encourages companies to take advantage of technologies for shareholders to attend meetings virtually. It highlights that doing so will maximise shareholder participation and engagement and ensure that shareholder meetings remain accessible, efficient, and fit for the future. The guidance also confirmed that the government has committed to amend the CA 2006 to clarify that virtual meetings of shareholders are permitted under the CA 2006. As a result, we will be closely watching the uptake of virtual and hybrid meetings by FTSE 350 companies over the coming months, which are likely to increase next AGM season.
It will be interesting to see if proxy advisers will update their guidance accordingly due to the GC100 guidance (for instance, ISS in its 2025 Voting Guidelines says that it recommends voting for hybrid meetings, but not for fully virtual meetings).
This season, physical AGMs continued to dominate, with 77.8% (207 meetings) held as physically only and an additional 10.5% (28 meetings) offering a live webcast or streaming option (with a combined total of 88.3%, up from 82.2% last season).
98.1% of FTSE 350 companies reviewed offered an in-person attendance option at their AGM (either by way or physical-only, hybrid or physical plus webcast option) (compared to 2024: 98.5%).
Hybrid meetings have declined since last season and accounted for 9.8% (26) of all AGMs in 2025 (down from 43 in 2024), and fully virtual AGMs remained rare at 1.9% (five) compared to 1.5% (four) in 2024. The 2025 season shows a clear and continued trend toward physical AGM formats, reinforcing the opportunities for traditional in-person engagement, whilst at the same time supplemented by webcast capabilities.
“The declining trend in hybrid AGMs has been an interesting, but not necessarily unsurprising, one. I think that for a lot of listed companies the cost of having an electronic platform, as well as a large enough physical meeting place, is expensive, and does not seem like money well spent.”
The five companies holding virtual-only meetings were:
Note that for the purpose of this report, we have adopted the ISS definition of virtual meetings, which is that a ‘virtual-only shareholder meeting’ refers to a meeting of shareholders that is held exclusively through the use of online technology without a corresponding in-person meeting. The term ‘hybrid shareholder meeting’ refers to an in-person, or physical, meeting in which shareholders are permitted to participate online.
We note that Haleon plc held a virtual meeting for shareholders, albeit that board members took part in a physical meeting under studio conditions. There was no opportunity for shareholders to be present in-person at the meeting, so under the ISS definition we have deemed this meeting to be ‘fully virtual’, and so we have included Haleon plc as within our statistics for virtual meetings this season.
When looking at FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies separately, whilst the preference for physical meetings was strong for both categories, it was even stronger in FTSE 250. FTSE 250 companies recorded 88% physical-only (150 meetings) and 5% physical-only plus webcast (9 meetings), totaling 93% combined physical formats, compared to 59% physical-only (57) and 20% physical plus webcast (19) for FTSE 100, totaling 79% combined physical formats. This marks an increase from 2024, where FTSE 250 stood at approximately 89.7% and FTSE 100 at 70%, showing that both indices have further consolidated their reliance on in-person AGMs, with webcast support becoming more common.
When looking at hybrid meetings held by the FTSE 100 in 2025, 19% (18) of AGMs were hybrid in 2025, down from 27% (27) in 2024, while FTSE 250 companies dropped from 8.5% (14) to 3% (eight). Fully virtual meetings remained minimal but slightly increased for FTSE 250 (from 2 meetings in 2024 to 3 in 2025) and stayed constant for FTSE 100 at 2 meetings (2%).
"For many companies outside the FTSE 100, AGMs have not been well attended in recent years and so it is easier and cheaper to organise a physical meeting with a dial in, which enables shareholders to submit questions and watch the live proceedings (but not vote) without costing the company any additional money. These companies can then focus on engaging with shareholders in other ways, without the formalities of an AGM, for example at capital markets days."
The shift might indicate that some shareholders have expressed a preference for engagement with companies and their directors through traditional in-person meetings. However, this could evolve next season given the GC100’s recent guidance, and perhaps we will see a higher uptake of hybrid and virtual formats.
The 2025 AGM season by industry sector shows a clear dominance of physical-only meetings across most sectors, with several such as Construction, Investment, Professional Services, Property, and Transport holding 100% of their AGMs in physical-only format, and zero adoption of hybrid or virtual options. Other sectors also lean heavily toward physical meetings, including Technology (93%), Retail & Wholesale Trade (88%), and Industrials (86%), while webcast support appears most prominently in Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology (56%) and Travel, Hospitality, Leisure & Tourism (24%). Hybrid formats are concentrated in Banking & Finance (30%), Chemicals (40%), and Telecommunications (20%), reflecting a more diversified approach likely driven by global shareholder bases and regulatory requirements. Fully virtual meetings remain rare, appearing only in small proportions in sectors such as Media (13%) and Healthcare (8%).
Restricted physical attendance
As mentioned above, in 2024 we identified two companies that held hybrid meetings but with specific restrictions on the ability to attend in-person. We listed this separately as a new kind of hybrid meeting format and wondered whether this might become a trend, as companies grapple with balancing shareholder engagement and accessibility with the escalating costs and administrative burden of hosting a dual online and physical meeting format. However, this season’s data shows that this trend has not come to fruition. There were no companies imposing formal restrictions on physical attendance at hybrid meetings this season.
"It remains to be seen whether the government will find the Parliamentary time in 2026 to 'clarify' the law relating to virtual only shareholder meetings. Even if they do, articles of association will need to be checked to ensure that they permit virtual only meetings and some proxy voting agencies and shareholders convinced as to their merits."
Within the group of 26 companies hosting hybrid meetings this year, we identified six companies that included wording within their notices of AGM to encourage shareholders to attend virtually instead of attending in person. The encouragement varied significantly, and we have included some examples of wording used below. These examples reveal that whilst physical attendance options are dominating this year’s AGM data, there are still several examples of companies who are encouraging the use of virtual meeting formats , which very much seems in line with the GC100’s latest guidance.
Companies including wording to encourage virtual AGM attendance:
- BT Group plc
- HSBC Holdings plc
- Marks & Spencer Group plC
- RHI Magnesita N.V.
- Rolls Royce Holdings plC
- Sainsbury (J) plc
“The 2025 AGM will be a combined online and physical meeting (hybrid meeting). It’s important to us to provide all shareholders with the opportunity to join and participate in our AGM, wherever they’re located and whatever their ability. Therefore, we’ll prioritise making the online experience engaging, accessible and inclusive and we strongly encourage shareholders to join the meeting that way. If you plan to attend the AGM in person, please ensure you register your intention to attend in advance... Will there be any catering at the meeting? We will be providing limited catering.”
“As the AGM adopts a digital-first approach, shareholders will have the best experience by participating online. We ask shareholders to register their intention to attend in person in advance by emailing to shareholderquestions@hsbc.com, enabling us to effectively manage capacity on the day.”
“The AGM is an opportunity for shareholders to express their views directly to the Directors of the Company. Our experience in modernising the traditional format of the AGM has been very positive, enabling shareholders to take part in recent meetings virtually and to ask questions and vote during the meeting.…If you wish to attend the AGM in person, we request that you register your intention to do so on our website at www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/AGM2025 by no later than 5.30pm on Tuesday, 1 July 2025. Light refreshments will be available before the start of the meeting. Those entitled to attend in person will be able to access the venue from 10.00am on Thursday, 3 July 2025 and should allow extra time to enable security measures to be completed.”
The Lumi platform remains the most widely used solution for hybrid and fully virtual meetings and for physical meetings with a live webcast, accounting for 31 instances. Other platforms were used far less frequently. For hybrid meetings, Meetnow was used once (Ninety One plc), Telecom plus used its own website (Telecom Plus plc) and RHI Magnesita N.V. used Computershare. For webcasts, there were a wider array of platforms used, as set out in the table above.