Tullis Russell and Inveresk: a contrast in ownership strategies
Subject
Abstract
Between 1990 and 2009 two Scottish papermaking companies, competing with an overlapping product range, chose two very different ownership strategies. The first, Tullis Russell, chose all-employee ownership and ended up out-performing the whole UK industry; the other, Inveresk, followed the more traditional route of MBO with subsequent listing, and in the end was forced to close, one by one, three of its four mills, leaving only a tiny one going. This paper sets out evidence that the different ownership strategies had a material effect on those different outcomes.