Anthony Jensen speaks at the UK Launch Mark Lazarowicz MP with Geof Cox of Common Cause at the Launch

The Common Cause report Insolvency, Employee Rights and Employee Buyouts is the result of a two-year research project, part-funded by Co-operative Action. It was launched in the UK Parliament on 14^th December 2006 by Dame Pauline Green and Desmond Flynn, Director of the UK Insolvency Service; and on 15^th December in Europe by Geof Cox of Common Cause, at the Employee Federation of Employee Share Ownership 'Top 100' Conference in Brussels.

Peter Booth, National Industrial Officer of the T&GWU spoke at the launch on issues raised by the Warwick Agreement, and Grant Jones, international lawyer with Squire Saunders and Dempsy, explained the pension implications of employee buyouts. The report’s author, Anthony Jensen, outlined the proposals, recommendations and the role of the employee buyout as an economic restructuring model. Anthony Jensen talks with Peter Booth of the TGWU Anthony Jensen's Report

Insolvency isn’t just about disappearing markets: bad management or just bad luck can be equally important. Forty-four percent of business failures are thought to be due to management failure. In England and Wales in 2005 16,500 businesses went into insolvency resulting in the loss of 7,000 jobs a month. The Government has pledged that companies that 'can be saved should be saved', but this simply is not happening.

Geof Cox, director of Common Cause, commented:

'Anthony has really struck a chord with the report by putting an argument at the intersection of ideas on 'stakeholder capitalism' – which recognises employees and the wider community as 'investors' – and the increasing fear among policy makers that globalisation will lead to more radical restructuring of industry. It draws specifically on current issues like the review of the impact of the Enterprise Act 2002, the Warwick Agreement, the Lisbon Strategy and the future use of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. He and other employee and community buyout specialists for once agree with R3 – the association of insolvency practitioners - that we may be near a tipping point for employees/communities as purchasers of businesses.'

Geof Cox speaking at the Brussels launch Mark Lazarowicz talks with Dame Pauline Green

 

You can now download the report Insolvency, Employee Rights & Employee Buyouts here (Note however this is a large document so only attempt downloading over a high speed link. For a paper copy send a £5 cheque to cover post and package to The Common Cause Foundation, Riverbank House, Riverbank Road, Alnmouth, Northumberland, NE66 2RH)

 

All of the photographs on this page are by Rebecca Denholm of ctn communications