reinventing the firm

The Unions and Co-Ownership

The debates and discussion regarding who governs the UK continue, and as yet we still do not know who will be running the country.  My intention was to provide an analysis of the winning party's track record and stated commitment to furthering the cause of employee ownership, but it's not likely that we will have that soon.  The three main UK parties are all committed to increasing coownership, in both the public and private sector, and this commitment appears sincere, driven by recognition that when organisations are run and controlled by those within them, they are more successful and sustai

Employee owned businesses deserve great leaders

Baxendale are delighted to announce the launch of a leadership programme, specifically designed for leaders in employee owned businesses.  This is very much a joint venture with Kellogg College's Centre for Mutual and Employee Owned Business based at Oxford University.  Details of the programme can be found here

Leadership is tremendously important in companies owned by their employees.  Indeed, if you look around the employee-owned community, there is a wealth of excellent leaders; Ali Parsa at Circle Health, Chris Parr at Tullis Russell,

Mutual Ownership - let's find the best way.

Two bald men fighting over a comb, is how Eddie Mair described the debate between the two main political parties on the topic of mutualism in the public sector.

The winning case for employee ownership

The case is closed and the argument that employee ownership is better for business has been won.  That was the message from last night's launch of a new report looking at research to date on employee ownership.  You can read the full report here.

The key findings are that

• Greater employee ownership could bring economic and social benefits to both the private and public sectors in the UK.
• Employee ownership improves employee engagement, innovation, sustainability and productivity

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Five reasons business owners choose employee ownership

I was very surprised at the first sentence in this article.

The Many Forms of Co - Ownership

It is great that co-ownership models are achieving such a high profile at the moment.  There are many reasons behind the attractiveness of the co-owned model for both public and private sectors.  The financial crisis, stemming largely from the fixation with short term rewards at the expense of long term prosperity has created dissatisfaction with the PLC and banking models, which are owned and controlled largely by external shareholders, whose interests are not aligned with the other business stakeholders.  In many areas of the public sector, morale is low because of perceived unfairness, inad

Employee Ownership of public services - A Success Story

Co ownership is fast becoming a hot issue in the forthcoming election.  As the parties argue over who thought of it first, what the model will be, whether the focus should be on public sector, private sector or both, they cynics are saying it can't work.  How can people run their own company, become truly involved in the strategy and direction of the business, and have real accountability in their leaders?  How can that work in the public service sector?

One company achieves all these as well as delivering an excellent service to its service users, and provides a great place to work. 

Tullis Russell and Inveresk - the difference in ownership.

Yesterday, I met with Eileen Jarrett who chairs the Employee Ownership Board at Tullis Russell Papermakers based in Fife, Scotland.  She was telling me that despite the challenges currently facing the paper industry, Tullis Russell continues to hold its own. 
 

Employee Ownership: better for business, individuals and society.

Why pursuit of shareholder value is bad for business, for individuals and for society.

Employee owned businesses: at least as good if not better. The evidence.

Yesterday, John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee owned firm, published a report based on research by CASS Business School.  The report looks at whether employee owned businesses deliver sustainable performance.  The research presents considerable evidence to support the claim that employee owned businesses are better for individual employees, do better business, and make a more valuable contribution to society.  You can read the report in full