Digital reporting, ESEF & UKSEF

Structured digital reporting - made easy

Digital corporate reporting is becoming increasingly important as regulatory requirements continue to evolve, including the Financial Reporting Council’s mandate for structured digital reporting using iXBRL and ESEF-compliant formats.

We support you in delivering accurate, accessible, and visually engaging corporate and sustainability reports that meet both regulatory obligations and stakeholder expectations. By combining strong design expertise with technical production knowledge, we'll help ensure your annual reports and financial disclosures are fully compliant, easy to navigate, and optimised for digital consumption across multiple platforms and devices.

We partner with the leading collaborative software platforms such as CtrlPrint, Workiva, Scribestar and others, supporting your teams' goals and leveraging digital output in multiple formats too.

We can help you meet ESMA’s European Single Electronic Format (ESEF, sometimes known as UKSEF) requirements and advise on everything you need to know to file successfully with the National Storage Mechanism. ESEF files in xHTML format with embedded xBRL data tags have been legally mandated for all European main-listed companies since 2021. We lead the way in helping companies fulfil their compliance obligations.

We offer accurate, high quality and fast turnaround services for any size of project. We can convert to xHTML output with embedded xBRL tags from supplied files, or direct from our in-house specialist typesetting system, working with our secure tagging partners to ensure compliance now and in the future.

Get in touch +44 (0)20 3794 1720

Why do clients choose us?

Specialist design and layout for digital consumption
Expert knowledge from a highly experienced team
Breadth of services: from content to design and delivery
xBRL tagging and xHTML conversion
ESEF and UKSEF compliance
Fast, flexible 24/7 digital production and artworking
Pragmatic and cost-effective approach
Fifty years' experience in Corporate Reporting

ESEF (European Single Electronic Format) or UKSEF as it's sometimes know, is a regulatory requirement for all main-market listed companies in Europe to file annual reports in machine-readable format (xHTML with embedded xBRL tags). Non-compliance risks fines. It's technically complex and easy to get wrong. We handle the entire process.
Modern investors and stakeholders principally consume corporate and sustainability reporting online; there are fewer hard copies printed these days. We frequently design for digital-first consumption: landscape formats to mirror screen usage, hyperlinked text and images, signposting between sections and easier digital navigation are all elements we use to make the investor journey easier. Clients also frequently ask for assistance with web design for key sections of a report for their IR sites too.
xHTML is the human-readable format (what investors read in a browser). xBRL is the machine-readable layer (structured data embedded in the xHTML that regulators and data aggregators can parse) tagged to a taxonomy such as ESMA’s ESEF. Both are required for full ESEF compliance for consolidated accounts.
Main-listed companies must file ESEF reports within 4 months of year-end (or per your jurisdiction's rules). This means if your year-end is December 31, ESEF filing is due by April 30. We factor this into project planning.
ESEF works with complex layouts. Our conversion process captures design fidelity (your report looks the same in xHTML as in PDF) while tagging the underlying data. The challenge is tagging—if you have dozens of tables or custom graphics, tagging takes longer (and costs more). We estimate tagging effort upfront.
It’s unlikely most companies will be able to meet the ESEF compliance themselves. The ESEF taxonomy is complex, tagging errors are common, and regulators penalise non-compliance. Most companies outsource to specialists. The cost of outsourcing is usually less than the cost of remediation if errors occur.
The NSM (national storage mechanism) to which you're filing will reject your file. You'll need to fix these and resubmit. This creates delays and reputational risk. It's far better to get it right first time. Our 100% accuracy guarantee (backed by expert tagging partners) is intentional - we don't want clients filing twice.
Yes. We can take your final PDF and convert to xHTML with embedded tagging. This is actually quite common - clients finalise print/PDF first, then we undertake the ESEF tagging and conversion.

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