Clarity on spending review brings new focus to #1MillionOwners campaign

The spending review campaign by the EOA and Coops UK – #1MillionOwners – has a clearer focus as the government provides clarity on its process.

The government has announced a fast track 1-year spending review to be concluded by the end of September 2019, followed by a full three-year spending review in 2020.

The #1MillionOwners campaign calls for £2.17million to be allocated over the next three years with an ambition to create one million worker and employee owners by 2030, addressing some of the challenges currently facing the UK economy.

Research from the EOA and Co-operatives UK shows that growing employee and worker ownership – businesses that give employees a stake and a say – would help Government achieve its objectives for a more productive, inclusive and balanced economy, supporting its own aims in the Good Work Plan and playing a key role in the Industrial Strategy.

The campaign team will continue to seek to influence government with an eye on both spending reviews. However, because the #1Million Owners campaign asks are for policy supported by funding over three years, it is likely that our asks will be more likely to be considered in the context of the three year spending review in 2020.

The #1MillionOwners call for more employee and worker ownership in the UK needs the support of employee owned businesses, worker owned businesses, MPs, influencers and the government.

So the EOA and Coops UK are encouraging people to pledge their support and share that they have pledged on social media channels, plus there is a template to write to your MP..

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK said:  “The UK’s best employee owned businesses and leading worker co-ops can be the answer to a more inclusive economy at a time of great economic uncertainty, and we’re urging Westminster government to match the Scottish Government’s ambition for a fivefold increase in the number of employee and worker owned businesses by 2030.”

Deb Oxley OBE, Chief Executive of the EOA said: “Now is the time for UK government to invest in creating more businesses that have a proven record of accomplishing and sustaining higher productivity, greater economic resilience and having a wider impact on the regions they operate in. We have great examples from across the UK of employee and worker owned businesses doing well while doing good – it is very clear the UK would benefit from having more of them.”

https://www.uk.coop/1millionowners/pledge