Thread by @jameskirkup

New from @SMFthinktank > the case for employee share ownership. A story of how companies & politicians can give workers a stake in the economy. Warning: this thread contains references to @GreggsOfficial #steakholdereconomy smf.co.uk/publications/s… 1/

Lots of people think capitalism isn't working. Some surveys show a majority of UK adults still believe the economic model doesn't work for them. edelman.co.uk/research/edelm… To restore trust, we need to make the system work better. 2/

Part of the answer is to make more workers into owners, by giving them the chance to buy (or be given) shares in the company they work for. Some good firms already do this: Greggs, corporate.greggs.co.uk/social-respons… Tesco... + @StarlingBank just announced its scheme today. 3/

But these firms are in the minority. Around 13,000 firms offer employee share schemes, covering 2 million workers - from a private sector workforce of 27+ million. We think that should be much higher. 4/

Workers seem to think so too. With @OpiniumResearch we polled employees of big firms. 68% said that they like the idea of holding shares in the company that they work for. 58% said it would raise motivation. 5/

Employee share ownership (ESO) should be the norm, not the exception. But how to achieve that? The answer is not so much about tax or regulation as about *leadership*. Govt should use its platform to establish ESO as a standard of company behaviour. 6/

EG: women on boards. The Hampton-Alexander targets are non-binding but they work. Companies are responding to public pressure to do better. ftsewomenleaders.com Govt should do the same with ESO. 7/

Establish an independent review of ESO, to set and monitor targets for increasing uptake. Use the "bully pulpit" of govt to argue that ESO is just what good companies do. 8/

Politically, this should appeal to everyone. Thatcher talked about a share-owning democracy. Tony Blair wanted a "stakeholder economy." Instead of labour vs capital, make workers into owners. A social market economy, if you like. 9/

@ProfTimBale has also summarised some interesting evidence on how share ownership makes people more favourable to market-based economies. unherd.com/2019/05/how-ca… 10/

Good analysis of our report here from @GrahamtRuddick in the Times thetimes.co.uk/article/failur… 11/

I've also written about our work in the Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/1… 12/

You can read the full report by @ScottCorfe + me here smf.co.uk/wp-content/upl… - 13/

Acknowledgement: although her name isn't on the report since she's gone on to even greater things elsewhere, @NicoleGicheva was a vital part of this team effort. 14/

Disclosure: our research was kindly sponsored by the @InvAssoc but our report reflects our views and not theirs. SMF retains full editorial independence of all publications. 15/ends