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Royal Mail appoints firm to set up share scheme Royal Mail appoints firm to set up share scheme
(4 months later)
Royal Mail came a step closer to privatisation on Thursday when it appointed a firm to set up a £300m employee share scheme. As part of the sell-off 10% of shares in Royal Mail will be set aside for employees, although business minister Michael Fallon has not yet made clear whether staff will be handed the shares for free. Royal Mail said it had conditionally appointed Equiniti, an administration and payments firm, to act as registrar and run the scheme.Royal Mail came a step closer to privatisation on Thursday when it appointed a firm to set up a £300m employee share scheme. As part of the sell-off 10% of shares in Royal Mail will be set aside for employees, although business minister Michael Fallon has not yet made clear whether staff will be handed the shares for free. Royal Mail said it had conditionally appointed Equiniti, an administration and payments firm, to act as registrar and run the scheme.
The government has said it is determined to press ahead with privatisation this financial year despite opposition from unions and rightwing thinktank the Bow Group, which this week labelled the sell-off politically "poisonous" in a letter to every Tory MP.The government has said it is determined to press ahead with privatisation this financial year despite opposition from unions and rightwing thinktank the Bow Group, which this week labelled the sell-off politically "poisonous" in a letter to every Tory MP.
The Royal Mail's army of more than 130,000 postal workers has committed itself to fight a privatisation that the union claims will "hurt staff, customers and thousands of small businesses", but Fallon has warned that if the union continues to fight a stock exchange flotation the coalition will sell the company to sovereign wealth funds or other foreign buyers.The Royal Mail's army of more than 130,000 postal workers has committed itself to fight a privatisation that the union claims will "hurt staff, customers and thousands of small businesses", but Fallon has warned that if the union continues to fight a stock exchange flotation the coalition will sell the company to sovereign wealth funds or other foreign buyers.
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