RAPID RESPONSES
J Lewis oversold
I agree with Allister Heath on Nick Clegg’s vision of a “John Lewis” society. [Clegg’s Contradictions, Tuesday]. There is a horrible dollop of survivor bias in the discussion about employee ownership.
People talk about John Lewis, but by only analysing firms that are still in existence (ignoring all those mutuals that have failed over the last 100 years), you get a biased, over-optimistic picture.
Kernow Castellan
………………..
Not buying it
Allister Heath suggests [Clegg’s Contradictions, Tuesday] that employee ownership increases risk for staff if the company fails. But if those people who worked in Past Times and Peacocks had owned a stake in the business maybe their conduct would have driven more sales through the till as they would have been more motivated in their roles, reducing the chance of the business entering into administration.
Stephen Hookway