Partner Article

Clegg calls for “John Lewis economy”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has this morning called for more companies to adopt a model of employee share ownership.

In a speech at an event organised by the City of London Corporation and Centre Forum think tank, Mr Clegg suggested a “John Lewis economy” could be developed.

He told the audience that the Government planned to cut red tape and make reforms to the tax system, to facilitate employee ownership.

Talking of ‘responsible capitalism’, Mr Clegg argued that the model was a hugely underused tool in unlocking growth.

He suggested that companies that companies operating employee ownership often performed better, and that they had “weathered the economic downturn better” through encouraging less staff turnover, lower absenteeism and lower production costs

John Lewis gives all its 76,500 staff “partner” status, meaning they share in benefits and profits of the business.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he wanted to get the concept into the “bloodstream” of the British economy, and bring an end to crony capitalism.

Justin Rix, Employer Solutions Partner, Grant Thornton: “In our experience, companies that operate employee share plans report greater employee engagement and an improvement in the interest in the performance of the business.

“This in turn can lead to better business performance and increased company value.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .