When John Spedan Lewis decided in 1929 to distribute his company’s profits to his staff it was because he had lost faith in the failed financial systems of his era and wanted to introduce a fairer form of capitalism. His “mutual” system reaped a record £112 million in the week before Christmas, and looks set to reward staff, with a generous bonus, which even in less successful years is as much as 20 per cent of their salaries.
Is Britain about to have a “mutual moment”? Labour thinks so. Tessa Jowell, the Cabinet Office Office, gave party approval to community ownership in a speech last month, and the idea is likely to feature in Labour’s manifesto.
via Socialism meets Middle England: inside the John Lewis miracle – Times Online.
