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Unknown what effect this will have on red elastic bands, late deliveries and job prospects for black and white felines.
Royal Mail has welcomed the Government’s announcement today that it intends to relinquish overall control and achieve minority ownership in Royal Mail.
The Government intends to dispose of a majority stake in Royal Mail this financial year. The company has welcomed the Government’s intention to give 10 per cent of all the shares in the business free to eligible Royal Mail employees in the UK at the time of Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The IPO would be the largest free stake of any major UK privatisation, with more Royal Mail employees able to participate in the Free Share scheme than in any other major UK privatisation for almost 30 years.
In a statement Royal Mail said that the “Government has also announced that, alongside an offer to institutional investors, there will be a retail offer. This will allow people we serve to own a stake in Royal Mail, should they to choose to. Our objective is to attract high-quality investors including pension funds, mutual funds, insurance companies and private individuals”.
The Government will retain flexibility around the size of a stake to be sold via the IPO. An exact date for the proposed flotation of Royal Mail has yet to be announced and there is no guarantee a transaction will go ahead.
Moya Greene, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Mail Group commented that “Royal Mail aims to combine the best of the public and private sectors. Our employees will have a meaningful stake in the company and its future success. The public will have the opportunity to invest in a great British institution.
“As we move into the private sector, the current legal position is that all terms and conditions that apply to Royal Mail employees would remain in place, on the same basis. To provide further reassurance, we will create a legally-binding and enforceable contract with the CWU. Pay and protections could not be changed for the period of the contract without CWU agreement.”
Many previously Government-owned companies – Rolls Royce, BP, etc. – have flourished under private ownership, with the Government arguing that it is not a good owner of large businesses. It was futher argued that Private ownership will enable Royal Mail to become more flexible and “fleet of foot in the fiercely competitive markets in which we operate”.
Reflecting on these matters the Mail said “Like them, we need to access to capital from time to time, but the Government has made clear it doesn’t have the money to allocate to Royal Mail ahead of schools and hospitals. Access to the capital markets will allow us to be more nimble to seize the opportunities available to us”.
The general public cautiously welcomed the news. Benedict Oberg-Brown, 57 from London, said “I’ve always dreamed of being a postie, I even buy shirts that look like I am one, but maybe owning some Royal Mail stock is the closest I’m going to get!”.
