A new paper has called on politicians to do more to support employee ownership as the UK heads into an election year. ‘Call for all major parties to seize the opportunity to promote worker ownership in election year‘ – the fourth and final briefing note in a series supported by the MidCounties Cooperative – notes the March Budget’s overlooking of employee ownership as a responsible, sustainable productivity booster. It also highlights the risk of continuing to ignore the generational opportunity to share ownership as the nation faces a potential ‘large wave’ of Baby Boomer business owners exiting their companies, leading to tens of thousands of otherwise viable businesses closing down.
Incorporating insights from two groundbreaking reports – ‘People Powered Growth’ and ‘Generation EO: The Great Employee Ownership Succession Opportunity’ the paper details how employee ownership could not only be the key to combatting this risk, but also leads to a stronger, higher skilled, more resilient economy. The paper goes on to summaries the key policy asks that multiple leadership bodies from the sector are calling for, to maximise and capitalise on the growth of employee ownership.
OAW wish to thank the MidCounties Cooperative for their generous support with the creation and publication of this series of briefing papers.