Manchester Withington MP Jeff Smith has today joined the campaign calling for the expansion of employee and worker ownership in the UK. 

The #1MillionOwners campaign is calling for the UK Government to invest £2million in the upcoming Spending Review with an ambition to create one million worker and employee owners by 2030. The Employee Ownership Association (EOA) and Co-operatives UK believe that this would help achieve a more productive, inclusive and balanced economy.

Speaking about the campaign, Jeff said:

“I am pleased to give my support to the 1 Million Owners campaign for investment into employee and worker ownership.

There are well established cooperative businesses in south Manchester that demonstrate how successful they can be.

More democratic ownership in our economy could help it to deliver for more people and lead to a fairer distribution of wealth.”

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK said:

“When it comes to reducing wealth inequality, driving employee engagement and tackling regional resilience, employee and worker ownership offers a proven solution.

“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.”