The Independent Review of employee ownership, commissioned by the Deputy Prime Minister in February and conducted by FFW’s Graeme Nuttall, was published on July 4th 2012.
Nuttall’s final Report calls on Government to act to address the three key barriers to further uptake of employee ownership in the private sector in the UK:
A lack of awareness of employee ownership. The concept of employee ownership is not widely known, and is undermined by mis-perceptions. Opportunities to adopt employee ownership are lost when employers, employees and advisers are unaware of its relevance and benefits;
A lack of resources, including finance, to support employee ownership. The review found that the existing information and guidance available on employee ownership is insufficient, and;
The complexity of employee ownership. The review heard that setting up as an employee owned company was associated with legal, tax and regulatory complexity. Whether this is perceived or real, it can discourage people and add extra compliance burdens onto existing.
The report has 28 recommendations in total, largely related to the three key barriers above. A number look to Government to work with the sector to raise awareness of employee ownership, through promotion of employee ownership as a business model in its own right which leads to proven benefits, used by many successful businesses today.