UK Government Endorses Action to Increase Employee Ownership

The United Kingdom's new Minister for Employment Relations, Jo Swinson, released a blueprint on Tuesday to encourage employee ownership of companies, saying "We will address one of the biggest barriers to take-up of employee ownership schemes: awareness that it exists" and described the goal as creating "new impetus to a business model we want to see thriving across the country." The action plan includes creating an implementation group, working with accountancy organizations to create "off-the-shelf" templates for creating employee ownership companies, and examining ways to reduce regulatory burdens facing employee ownership companies when they are faced with repurchase obligations. These action steps flow out of a government-commissioned report written by Graeme Nuttall.