The verdict in three sentences
An investor relations website for a London-listed company costs between 30,000 and 70,000 GBP in 2026, depending on document volume, automation and integration with your newswire. The real risk is not design but dissemination compliance: a late announcement or a missing document invites FCA scrutiny and erodes analyst trust. The right brief demands publication in under 15 minutes, five years of archives and a back office the finance team runs on its own.
What the rules actually require from the website
UK MAR requires issuers to disclose inside information as soon as possible and to post it on their website. The FCA Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR) require the annual financial report within 4 months of year end and the half-yearly report within 3 months. AIM Rule 26 adds a list of information that must be kept on the website and updated.
| Obligation | Source | Practical website requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Inside information | UK MAR, art. 17 | Posted at the same time as RNS release, timestamped |
| Retention of announcements | UK MAR | Archive available for at least 5 years |
| Annual financial report | DTR 4.1 | Online within 4 months of year end |
| Half-yearly report | DTR 4.2 | Online within 3 months of period end |
| AIM company information | AIM Rule 26 | Board, shareholders, documents kept current |
| PDMR dealings | UK MAR, art. 19 | Notifications posted or linked |
| AGM documents | Companies Act 2006 | Notice and results online |
None of these rules dictate a technology. They do demand a reliable publishing chain: once the CFO approves an announcement, it must reach the website, calendar and email list in one action, without waiting for a supplier at 7 am.
What an IR website costs in 2026
Price gaps come mainly from three items: archive migration, share price integration and the depth of reporting tools. Here is an indicative grid, 2026 order of magnitude for a company with a 50 to 500 million GBP market cap.
| Item | Essential version | Full version |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery, UX and design | 7,000 GBP | 16,000 GBP |
| Development and publishing back office | 11,000 GBP | 26,000 GBP |
| Migration of 5 years of archives (150 to 600 docs) | 3,000 GBP | 8,000 GBP |
| Share price module and charts (integration) | 2,500 GBP | 5,500 GBP |
| Real-time price feed via API | 1,300 GBP per year | 3,000 GBP per year |
| RNS feed integration | 2,500 GBP | 6,000 GBP |
| Accessibility and security audit | 2,000 GBP | 4,500 GBP |
| Project total (excluding subscriptions) | about 30,000 GBP | about 70,000 GBP |
A realistic timeline is 10 to 14 weeks. Avoid starting in the six weeks before a results announcement: finance will have no time to approve templates or test the dissemination flow.
Features that matter to analysts
An effective IR site answers a fund manager's questions in under three clicks: what the company is worth, when it reports, who runs it and who owns it. Features to prioritise:
- Financial calendar exportable as .ics, with automatic email reminders 48 h before each release.
- Document centre filterable by year and type (announcement, report, presentation, AGM), with accessible PDFs.
- Email alerts with double opt-in, UK GDPR compliant, with a consent log.
- Governance page updated from the back office, no developer needed.
- Hosting in the UK or EU, 99.9 % uptime and a CDN to absorb results-day spikes (often 10 to 20 times normal traffic).
Mini case study
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Claire, CFO of an AIM-listed industrial company in London, issues 18 announcements a year. On the old site, every upload went through the agency: an average 2 h delay and 280 GBP per intervention, or 5,040 GBP a year, plus two late postings last year. The new site costs 42,000 GBP, plus 1,300 GBP a year for the price feed. The communications team now publishes in 10 minutes. The direct saving of 5,040 GBP a year pays back the project in about 8 years, but the decisive point is elsewhere: zero late postings over 12 months and a 46 % open rate on investor alerts.
FAQ
Can the IR site be a section of the corporate website?
Yes, for a company under 100 million GBP market cap a dedicated section often works and cuts the budget by 30 to 40 %. It still needs its own publishing workflow and 5-year archive.
Is a real-time share price essential?
No, a 15-minute delayed price is cheap or free from many providers. Real-time via API costs around 1,300 GBP a year and mainly pays off if you actively target retail investors.
Should we connect the RNS feed directly?
An automated RNS import saves 15 to 30 minutes per release and removes copy errors. It adds 2,500 to 6,000 GBP to the build and is worth it above roughly 12 announcements a year.
How long does migrating five years of archives take?
Allow 2 to 4 weeks for 150 to 600 documents, in parallel with development. Sorting, renaming and checking PDFs is half the effort.
Who should control publishing?
Finance and communications, with a logged two-step approval. A supplier should never sit on the critical path of inside information.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your scope, current tools and timeline: we scope the project lot by lot and agree the schedule with you. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
