WEDNESDAY 26TH JANUARY 2000; Shares for All! (Or Maybe Not...)

We are holding a workshop with Human Resources people from Andersen Consulting and Natwest to discuss the softer, staff related issues around Redgrave (our proposed purchasing jv with Andersens). We discuss the culture, style, and working methods of the company we're going to form. We decide that two of the key things that need addressing are process and ownership. Our current internal processes are just about adequate as a part of NW but won't stand up to us being a separate company. We will have to have more discipline about time and work recording, performance measurement, customer service and so on.

I am keen to push the aspect of ownership - both because quite a few of us have NW share options, so need something to replace those, and because I think it will foster the right attitude and behaviour in the company. I have always thought that if I ever had my own company, I would want everyone involved to have some stake in the business. This concept seems to be understood by the HR people, but I suspect the Andersen people receive my views more sympathetically than my NatWest HR colleagues.