Privatisation and worker buy‐outs

With a few honourable exceptions, worker co‐operatives in this country do not have a large following or a particularly impressive track record. The first public sector enterprise to sell out to its workers ‐ the former National Freight Company, now the National Freight Consortium ‐gave a much‐needed fillip to the whole concept; so did the 1983 Finance Act. And if the Government's privatisation plans don't come unstuck, the opportunities for other worker buy‐outs are immense.