PROFIT-SHARING BY I.C.I.

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27370, 8 June 1954, Page 9

PROFIT-SHARING BY I.C.I.

£1,000,000 A Year Put As Cost LONDON. Much attention is being paid today in industrial and political circles to the announcement of Britain’s largest industrial enterprises, Imperial Chemical Industries, who propose to introduce a profit sharing scheme for its workers in Britain benefiting, it is estimated some 75,000 men and women. “The Directors are firmly convinced,” says the company’s annual report, “that the long-term interest of the company would be furthered by identifying the interests of employees even more closely with those of the company.” The scheme is estimated to cost something like £1,000,000 this year and being linked with dividend rates would cost more if dividends were higher.

The company says: “It seems right to the Board that in that event, employees should participate in such an increase.”

“The decision should be welcomed by everyone who has the interest of the British industry at heart,” says the “Financial Times.” “The importance of the decision lies in the fact that it is the first time since the war that a firm of its size has introduced a profit sharing scheme in Britain and it will give a big fillip to a movement which has been growing steadily in recent years.” While warning that “profits' sharing cannot be a sustitute for good wages and working conditions nor for good relations in industry” the “Financial Times” draws attention to the system’s "growing injportance in Britain where it is now estimated that more than one quarter of all firms operate a profit sharing or regular bonus schemes.”