Companies owned by Essex County Council

Essex County Council (ECC) has interests in and is involved in a number of companies for lots of different reasons. 

For example, we may want to trade our services for profit or we may set up a joint decision making forum with our partners. 

View a list of ECC's companies.

Company guidance

The leader of the council has adopted Company guid​ance (DOCX, 73KB) which sets out our requirements for creating new companies or joining a new company.

We consider a company to be an ECC company, and therefore within the scope of the guidance, if:

• we own shares in it (other than pension fund investments)
• we are a member of a company limited by guarantee
• we have the right to appoint directors 

The aim of the guidance is to: ​

• ensure there's a clear business case for any proposed investment, acquisition proposal or continued participation in ECC companies and that they contribute to the achievement of the council's corporate objectives
• allow us to manage, within a well-defined framework, the performance of the companies ECC wholly or partly owns
• minimise the risk of unlawful or unconstitutional decisions or actions
• enable us to obtain the financial information the council needs to comply with our own statutory financial reporting requirements in relation to entities we partly or wholly control, and to manage our exposure to risk
• provide assurance about transparency and record keeping in relation to our companies
• set up a shareholder board to have central oversight of companies

The shareholder board

The Shareholder Board is a sub-committee of Cabinet and comprises of:

• the Leader of the Council 
• the Deputy Leader of the Council 
• the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance (currently the Chancellor of Essex).

They will be supported by the monitoring officer and the section 151 officer or their nominee. 

The Shareholder Board will normally meet quarterly or as required and must consider any proposals to: 

• establish or dissolve an ECC Company or to create a relationship between an existing company and ECC so that it becomes an ECC Company, 
• acquire or dispose of shares in an ECC company; or
• allow the company to issue new shares or allow anyone else to dispose of shares; or
• change the company status from dormant to trading and vice versa 
• invest in an ECC Company
• exercise ECC’s power to appoint or remove any person as a director of an ECC Company 
• make any decision or issue any approval of anything which is a reserved matter in an ECC Company
• approve or change a business plan or business case
• enter into a financial transaction or asset disposal with a business or individual which is linked to a director or senior employee of the Company

The Shareholder Board will also oversee ECC’s relationship with ECC companies, delivery of each ECC company’s business plan, performance, financial issues, investments and governance arrangements.

The Shareholder Board may meet informally or formally, but no decisions may be taken other than at a formal meeting.

Lead officer

Each company has a lead ECC officer who is responsible for managing the relationship between the company and the council. ​The lead officer must provide an annual report to the shareholder b​oard.