The Pulse of Modern EO: Looking Back at the Robert Oakeshott Lecture

Over the last thirteen years, the Robert Oakeshott Lecture has become an important and inspiring fixture in the employee ownership calendar. As we approach the latest instalment, it’s a perfect opportunity to look back and see how far the sector’s come. 

Image: Memories of past Robert Oakeshott Lectures

The very first Robert Oakeshott Lecture (ROL) took place before the introduction of the employee ownership trust. In fact, it provided a key government announcement for EO. But more on that below. 

Since then, the sector has surged by 1,640%. It now boasts around 2,470 businesses, employing approximately 358,000 people.

It’s no exaggeration to say this wouldn’t have been possible without building on the solid foundation laid by eoa founder, Robert Oakeshott.

With the latest lecture taking place in September, we take a closer look at Robert’s life, the ROL’s impressive pedigree of speakers, and what you can expect from the 2025 instalment.

A ‘Quintessential English Eccentric’

Robert began his career as a journalist with the Financial Times before moving to Africa. Here, he worked on economic development in Zambia and Botswana, committing himself to improving the working lives and financial security of employees.  

Returning to the UK, Robert formed the Sunderlandia building workers’ co-op in 1973. He then penned two highly influential books: The Case for Workers Cooperatives and Jobs & Fairness: the Logic and Experience of Employee Ownership. 

Following a visit to homecare cooperatives in New York, he then worked with renowned solicitor and businesswoman Margaret Elliott CBE to set up employee owned Sunderland Homecare. This led to the formation of several more co-owned home care companies across the North of England.

Inspired by developments in the USA, Job Ownership Ltd (JOL) was founded in 1979 with the support of Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. 

From its inception, JOL began campaigning for the UK and other European governments to back incentives for businesses to share ownership with their employees. 

Backed by the support of the UK government, JOL even campaigned for EO in post-Soviet Eastern bloc countries in the nineties.

The organisation’s international perspective was further cemented through a series of annual conferences held at Merton College in Oxford.

The 2002 Share Schemes Act was built upon the solid foundation Robert had provided for EO in the UK, demonstrating his legacy despite having stepped down as JOL’s director by this point.

Robert remained on the JOL’s board during its 2004 transition to become the representative membership body for the UK’s EO sector.

In 2007, the organisation formalised its changed status by renaming itself the Employee Ownership Association.

Robert passed away in 2011 aged 78. A year later, we began holding an annual lecture in his name with the active support of his family.

A Pedigree of Excellent Speakers

The first Robert Oakeshott Memorial Lecture was delivered in 2012 by the coalition government’s Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP.

It was here that Clegg announced the government’s support for employee ownership, as well as the formation of a major policy review into the sector’s future chaired by Robert’s longtime colleague (and eoa International Ambassador) Graeme Nuttall OBE. 

This review would lead to the introduction of employee ownership trusts (EOTs) in 2014 – a policy which has since spurred enormous growth in the UK’s EO sector. Over a decade later, it remains the most popular form of EO.

In the following years, the lecture attracted a high calibre of speakers spanning a broad cross section of sectors, including:

• Matthew Taylor, NHS Confederation
• Rt Hon Jesse Norman
• Naomi Climer CBE, Institute for the Future of Work
• Dame Stephanie Shirley, Sopra Steria Group
• Sir Charlie Mayfield, John Lewis Partnership
• Rt Hon Francis Maude
• Sacha Romanovitch, Grant Thornton UK LLP

Many of the recordings can still be watched over on our YouTube page.

Putting EO at the Epicentre

2025 follows in this tradition with another exciting speaker, Joseph R Blasi.

Joseph is a J. Robert Beyster Distinguished Professor and Director Emeritus, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations. 

Moreover, he's a visiting Fellow for Kellogg College, Oxford University, and a Fellow of The Aspen Institute.

He’s also the author of The Citizen's Share and is a former advisor to the U.S. Department of Treasure on employee share ownership.

He’ll argue that by utilising different levels of EO, it’s possible to organise the majority of an economy with employee ownership at its epicentre. 

The lecture will examine and explore research showcasing how this shift can take place with a detailed discussion of what public policy needs to do to accomplish a broad-based EO economy in the near future.

“It’s been a long-held belief that employee ownership provides a means to share ownership among an entire group of employees and offer an alternative succession option to outgoing owner-founders,” said Joseph.

“Now, however, research has made this absolutely clear alongside undeniable evidence that employee ownership can be quickly implemented, not only in small and medium-sized businesses, but also in listed corporations, to address wealth insecurity and inequality.”

Secure your tickets now to join us in London this September for another unmissable lecture. The 2025 ROL is sponsored by Arup.