Footer pattern

A page footer is more than navigation. For a UK-registered limited company it is a legal disclosure. The pattern below satisfies the statutory rules and the practical conventions users expect.

What goes in

Three layers, in order of importance:

Legal disclosure — required by the Companies Act 2006 (s.82-84) and SI 2008/495.
Privacy & consent — required by UK GDPR and PECR.
Wayfinding — secondary navigation users expect at the bottom of every page.

UK legal checklist

Every Tradik page footer must contain:

Item	Source	Status
Registered legal name (e.g. Tradik Limited)	Companies Act 2006, s.82	Required
Place of registration (e.g. England & Wales)	Companies Act 2006, s.82	Required
Company registration number (e.g. 07139005)	Companies Act 2006, s.82	Required
Registered office address	Companies Act 2006, s.82	Required
VAT number (if VAT-registered)	VAT Regulations 1995	Conditional
Privacy policy link	UK GDPR Art. 13	Required
Cookie policy link + consent banner	PECR reg. 6	Required if non-essential cookies set
Terms of service link	Convention	Strongly recommended
Accessibility statement link	EAA 2025 / convention	Required for public-sector; recommended for B2B
ICO registration number (if data controller)	Data Protection Act 2018	Required if registered with ICO
Modern Slavery statement link	Modern Slavery Act 2015	Required if turnover > £36 m

Layout rules

Landmark. The footer is a <footer role="contentinfo">. There is exactly one per page.
Columns. Up to four content columns plus a brand block on desktop. Stack to two columns on tablet, one on phone.
Legal strip. Company facts and copyright sit below the columns, separated by a hairline border.
Target size. Every link area is at least 24 × 24 CSS px (WCAG 2.2 — 2.5.8). Include vertical padding so taps don't miss.
Contrast. Footer text is --color-fg-secondary on --color-bg-subtle — verified ≥ 7 : 1 (AAA).

Implementation

Use the rendered SiteFooter component on this site as the reference implementation — it is the same component on every page, including this one. Centralise the company facts in a single object so they cannot drift between pages:

const company = {
  legalName: 'Tradik Limited',
  number: '07139005',
  registeredOffice: '167–169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, England, W1W 5PF',
  jurisdiction: 'England & Wales',
  vat: 'GB ___ ____ __',
  ico: 'Registration: ZA______',
  contactEmail: 'hello@tradik.com',
};

Cookie consent caveat

If your app loads any non-essential script that sets cookies (Google Tag Manager, analytics, advertising pixels), you must defer it until the user grants consent. The current Design System site loads GTM unconditionally — that is acceptable for a documentation site that does not yet have a live container ID, but production Tradik apps need a Consent Management Platform (CMP) before any non-essential script fires. Track this in your project as a launch blocker.

Live example

Scroll to the bottom of this page. Every link, every line of legal text, is the production component.