Having the wife as company secretary

[williaa68]

Having been an employee for many years I am just about to strike out on my own as a self employed consultant. My old employer will be my first client but only about the equivalent of one day per week. I am thinking of employing my wife as the company secretary of my to-be-established company. She is a solicitor, still on the roll but non-practicing, but I am thinking that paying her a modest salary below the NI threshold (say £7,500 per year) would be a tax effective way to extract cash from the company? The company could also presumably pay pension contributions for her - at the moment she has no income other than investment income. Thoughts very welcome, whether on this topic or matters generally. Thanks in advance.

[williaa68]

All very helpful - thank you all very much.