10,500 capitalists scent rich pickings
Page 59
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE 10,500 NFC shareholders are no piggy-bank savers and those who went to Birmingham did not go just for the ride. They were your actual capitalists, whose appetite for wealth was whetted still further by the announcement of a first interim dividend of 15 per cent for the opening period of 1983 as well as a total of 12 per cent for eight months of 1982. Their cup overflowed when they were told that the shares for which they paid V each only a year ago were now worth £2,45.
It was hardly surprising, then, that some shareholders were reluctant to let the faint hearts, who did not express their faith in cash terms in the first place, benefit unduly by subsequent share issues. This and other topics were discussed earnestly and at length, members of the staff displaying impressive technical knowledge of finance and no mean (an expression that some might dispute) business acumen.
Peter Thompson is concerned lest, having bridged the divide between management and workers, a new "them and us" attitude should develop between workers who hold shares and those who do not. This is a danger that the board clearly has in mind in encouraging the wider ownership of the consortium by the staff.