Royal Mail WILL be sold off:John Lewis style

[POSTMAN]

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Royal Mail WILL be sold off: Posties get shares in 'John Lewis' deal

Postmen are to be given stakes in Royal Mail under radical Government plans to sell it off this year.

Ministers plan to transform the ailing firm into a John Lewis-style trust, like the department store whose employees are 'partners', owning shares and receiving annual dividends based on its profits.

The offer will dramatically undermine attempts by militant trade union leaders to persuade staff to oppose the privatisation, which is expected to be the biggest in Britain for two decades.

Giving employees a financial incentive should also improve Royal Mail's performance, the Government believes.

Ministers are considering a full-scale-sell-off amid increasing concern about the firm's future.

A collapse in the number of letters and parcels being sent and a black hole in its pension scheme has made an injection of private cash urgent, they say.

Ed Davey, the postal affairs minister, told the Daily Mail: 'Employee share ownership can be critical in turning round a company's fortunes.

'With great British companies and organisations like John Lewis already involved, it shows how powerful it can be.'

Legislation is expected in the autumn, and Royal Mail, which runs postal delivery, will then be privatised.

The Post Office, which runs 12,000 branches across the country, is to remain in government ownership.
THE JOHN LEWIS EFFECT

All 69,000 permanent employees of John Lewis are 'partners', who own a stake in the business.

The firm, which has a turnover of around £7billion a year, is the largest employee-owned business in Britain, but many more are partly- or wholly-owned by the people who work for them.

Research suggests such firms consistently outperform their rivals, since employees are motivated by the link between the company's performance and financial gain.

Usually, part or all of a firm is held in trust, with employees as beneficiaries.

they are paid annual dividends depending on the firm's performance.

This year's John Lewis bonus was equivalent to 15 per cent of annual salary, or nearly eight weeks' pay.

The amount of the firm that will be sold has yet to be determined, but ministers are considering a 100 per cent privatisation, or disposing of it in stages.

A chunk of Royal Mail shares is expected to be held in trust, with the beneficiaries the 170,000 employees of the company.

They would share the profit, and would also be involved in management decisions.

As at John Lewis, employees would not own the shares as individuals, so holdings could not be sold if the worker left the firm.

The move mirrors the Government's 'big society' agenda, which will see public sector workers given the chance to bid for and run their services themselves.

Under the coalition agreement between the Tories and the Lib Dems, the Government has pledged to 'modernise Royal Mail, in partnership with employees, and will ensure it benefits from private sector capital and disciplines'.

Unions have promised to wage a fierce campaign against the plans, having effectively forced Labour to drop the idea of a part-privatisation.

The Communication Workers' Union has already passed a motion opposing a sell-off.


Last July, Lord Mandelson, the former Business Secretary, blamed 'market conditions' for the fact that Labour had failed to find a buyer at a price it was willing to accept.

But critics said the privatisation had been shelved because of massive-Labour opposition.

The Government's revival of the plan will be an early test for Labour's new leader, who will be installed in late September. If the party opposes privatisation, the coalition will seize on it as evidence of a shift to the Left.

The Dutch postal giant TNT and the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which already owns a Belgian postal company, have expressed interest in buying Royal Mail.

A full-scale privatisation of Royal Mail would rival that of British Gas, which raised £9billion in 1986, and BT, which raised £3.9billion when a 50.1 per cent stake was sold in 1984.

[POSTMAN]

THE JOHN LEWIS EFFECT

All 69,000 permanent employees of John Lewis are 'partners', who own a stake in the business.

The firm, which has a turnover of around £7billion a year, is the largest employee-owned business in Britain, but many more are partly- or wholly-owned by the people who work for them.

Research suggests such firms consistently outperform their rivals, since employees are motivated by the link between the company's performance and financial gain.

Usually, part or all of a firm is held in trust, with employees as beneficiaries.

they are paid annual dividends depending on the firm's performance.

This year's John Lewis bonus was equivalent to 15 per cent of annual salary, or nearly eight weeks' pay.

[BELIAL]

Now invite a JL employee on here and ask them what they have to endure to get a pittance of the profit and just how happy they are working under that bullshit regime. C'mon H&S leaders you know the score Speak free

[Typhoon]

Now invite a JL employee on here and ask them what they have to endure to get a pittance of the profit and just how happy they are working under that bullshit regime. C'mon H&S leaders you know the score Speak free

Stop speaking utter bullshit. I'd be more happy with a dividend payout rather than the more work for less pay we have just endured.

I bet John Lewis staff never lost money striking after listening to 2 fat windbags either

Personally speaking I could not give a s**t if we get privatised after the deal we got.

CWU is on its deathbed and I'm happy about that.

[Night Tonic]

Daily Mail, um yes. Well as Hooper hasn't even started work yet, why bother paying him if thats the case. Seems a better idea than trying to sell it to the rag & bone man.

[BELIAL]

Now invite a JL employee on here and ask them what they have to endure to get a pittance of the profit and just how happy they are working under that bullshit regime. C'mon H&S leaders you know the score Speak free

Stop speaking utter bullshit. I'd be more happy with a dividend payout rather than the more work for less pay we have just endured.

I bet John Lewis staff never lost money striking after listening to 2 fat windbags either

Personally speaking I could not give a s**t if we get privatised after the deal we got.

CWU is on its deathbed and I'm happy about that.

Fair do's now give some facts to back up your drivel. How about their hourly rate? Attendance code? Conduct code for serving under age drinkers? Any info?
Bet you are are just one of the Thatcherite spawn,brainless,mindless,worthless and useless and compared to this lot toothless and cuddly

[NWpostie]

When John Lewis in Liverpool got shut down, did the Employees get any say in that ?

[britwrit]

This is such an awesome article. I love how they don't even try to square the "collapsing" numbers of parcels and letters being sent with the idea that someone will pay "billions" to get into a shrinking market.

It's like, screw you, here's our propaganda. Take it or leave it.

[subbie]

You guys need to give this proposition very careful thought, cos it could work wonders for you all. The trick is in the Democracy and Governance arrangements that would underpin the Company structure. So long as there is a workable collective democratic process, where major decisions are taken by the "partners" and not the Board of Directors sitting alone then you will have some control over your own destiny and income,

Of course such a proposal would render the services of the CWU as being redundant, so long as the JL culture and ethos prevails into a privatized RML, so your Union Leaders are going to be very nervous of this proposal.

Take a good long hard look, look at John Lewis annual report, speak to JL employees who have served more than 2 years with the company.

Us subbies would certainly like the opportunity for a slice of this action.

Subbie

[POSTMAN]

Sorry but we are so much different to JL,the workforce's (some)attitude and management (most),it won't be rosy that's for sure.
Money and profit is king,end off!

[maisymoo04]

I cant wait for it to happen dont give a s**t no more crappy union as mentioned bring it on at least we will have a say about the company . plus we our makin profit who gets the share WE DO

[maisymoo04]

My sister in law works in john lewis as she said when they started the take over 14 fat cat managers were sacked and the employees had a say on the company everyone got involved sat in rooms and bosses came around from head office talkin to everyone what they want to see and change, a dividend was paid every year think it was 14-15 % this year of profits and they got £2500 pound each i dont no how many employees our in the company, something to think about we made 26% profit and that was with strike action, new REVENUE comin in something to think about, i no people wont agree with me but al be votin for it if it comes to that that is

[guvenor]

yes you will get a bigger bonus and yes managers especially linos will go
but will we still have ft jobs i dont think so

[subbie]

Attitudes towards all manner of things would have to change under a Partnership arrangement, Partners will accept all kind of changes as long as this resulted in better outcomes, this is similar to the thinking that self-employed people have, so it is little wonder why a Sub Postmaster would not struggle to understand the proposal, its how we live already, but to have control over POL would be utopia.

RML employees will find all this scary and will be rightly skeptical, it will come hard to give up decades of a worker vs management mentality, but I would argue the hardest job will be on behalf of the management grades as they come to terms with a culture that requires them to "put the partners first"

My only question would be, how would a JL Partnership scheme be viewed by a potential investor?

Subbie

[RobertT]

There's also the small problem of a £10 Billion pension black hole!