The Shareholder Executive (ShEx) was a body within the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

responsible for managing the government's financial interest in a range of state-owned businesses for commercial rather than political interests. It was part of the

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , type = Department , logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG , seal = , se ...

and staffed by civil servants, many of whom were corporate finance professionals with private sector experience. It was led by

Mark Russell Mark Russell (born August 23, 1932) is an American political satirist and comedian. He is best known for his series of semimonthly comedy specials on PBS television between 1975 and 2004. His routines were a mix of political stand-up humor cover ...

as Chief Executive at the time of its closure.

Role

The Shareholder Executive managed a portfolio of businesses with a combined turnover of around £12 billion. The businesses varied and could be in the form of a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...

limited liability partnership A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is not ...

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

trading fund A trading fund is an executive agency, government department or often simply a part of a department, that enables the department to handle its own revenues and expenses separately from overall government finances and more like a business, as opposed ...

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...

non-ministerial government department Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil se ...

. It advised the government on drafting parts of the

Postal Services Act 2011 The Postal Services Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act enabled the British Government to sell shares in Royal Mail to private investors and includes the possible mutualisation of the Post Office. The Act allows ...

and worked on the

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

and the possible

mutualisation A mutual organization, or mutual society is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a true cooperative, members usually do not contribute to ...

Post Office Ltd gd, Oifis a' Phuist kw, Sodhva an Post ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Post Office Logo.svg , type = State-owned private company limited by shares , genre = , predecessor = General Post Office , foundation = 1987 , founder = , location_cit ...

. It was also involved in establishing the

UK Green Investment Bank Green Investment Group Limited (GIG) is a specialist in green infrastructure principal investment, project delivery and the management of portfolio assets, and related services. The business was launched initially by the UK government in 2012 a ...

, the

Public Data Group The Public Data Group (PDG) was a grouping of data providing organisations owned by the UK government. It was formed in 2011 to improve the amount and quality of data publicly released, with the idea that making more data available would increase ...

and the

British Business Bank British Business Bank plc (BBB) is a state-owned economic development bank established by the UK Government. Its aim is to increase the supply of credit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as providing business advice services. It is ...

. It was not responsible for the government's shares in UK banks, which were managed by

UK Financial Investments UK Financial Investments (UKFI) was a limited company set up in November 2008 and mandated by the British government to manage HM Treasury's shareholdings in the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) and in UK Asset Resolution, which held the residu ...

(UKFI), or the government's property holdings, which were managed by the

Government Property Unit A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

(GPU).

History

The Shareholder Executive was originally established in September 2003 as part of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

. In 2004 it moved to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In 2007 the National Audit Office published a report into the Shareholder Executive. This was broadly positive but had some misgivings about its location in the DTI. Following the split of the DTI in 2007, ShEX moved to the

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and was itself disbanded ...

(BERR) and then to its successor, the

(BIS) in 2009. The Shareholder Executive was originally involved in the government's

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

Northern Rock Northern Rock, formerly the Northern Rock Building Society, was a British bank. Based at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, Northern Rock was originally a building society. It demutualised and became Northern Rock bank in ...

and

Bradford & Bingley Bradford & Bingley plc was a British bank with headquarters in the West Yorkshire town of Bingley. The bank was formed in December 2000 by demutualisation of the Bradford & Bingley Building Society following a vote of the building society's mem ...

at the start of the banking crisis in 2008. It then began the process of splitting off Northern Rock's '

bad bank A bad bank is a corporate structure which isolates illiquid and high risk assets (typically non-performing loans) held by a bank or a financial organisation, or perhaps a group of banks or financial organisations. A bank may accumulate a large por ...

' mortgage business to form

. All bank shareholdings were transferred to

in November 2008. In 2011 the Government Property Unit was moved from the Shareholder Executive to the

as part of the new

Efficiency and Reform Group The Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG), established in 2010, was part of the Cabinet Office which worked in partnership with HM Treasury to form the corporate centre for UK Government. Its objectives were to reform the way government works and ...

. In 2015, the government announced that the Shareholder Executive would be transferred to

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

and became subsidiary of

UK Government Investments UK Government Investments (UKGI) is a company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom which combines the former functions of the Shareholder Executive and UK Financial Investments based in London, England. UKGI manages a portfolio of 17 ...

, along with

. This was due to occur with the end of the government fiscal year on 1 April 2016.

Portfolio Unit

The Portfolio Unit contains businesses where the Shareholder Executive have a shareholding mandate, although the shares themselves are owned by government departments. Its role is either accountable to ministers directly ('executive'), working alongside shareholding teams within departments ('joint team') or advising department shareholder teams ('advisory'). Most businesses are wholly owned by the government, but some are partly owned.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are i ...

Insolvency Service The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with headquarters in London. It has around 1,700 staff, operating from 22 locations across Great Britain. The Insolvency Service admin ...

Land Registry Land registration is any of various systems by which matters concerning ownership, possession, or other rights in land are formally recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of title, facilitate transactions, a ...

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

UK Export Finance , type = Department , logo = UK Export Finance logo.svg , logo_width = 150 , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Government Offices Great George Street. ...

Urenco The Urenco Group is a British-German-Dutch nuclear fuel consortium operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany, the Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and stat ...

(33.3%)

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned media company headquartered in London. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4. The company was founded in 1982 as the Channel Four T ...

Department for International Development

CDC Group British International Investment, (formerly CDC Group plc, Commonwealth Development Corporation, and Colonial Development Corporation) is the development finance institution of the UK government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ...

Department for Transport

London and Continental Railways London and Continental Railways (LCR) is a property development company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom for developing former railway land. The company was originally established in 1994 as a private consortium to own European Pa ...

NATS Holdings NATS Holdings, formerly National Air Traffic Services and commonly referred to as NATS, is the main air navigation service provider in the United Kingdom. It inherited the traditions of UK air traffic control, which (founded over Croydon Airp ...

(49%)

Department for Work and Pensions

Working Links Working Links (formally Working Links (Employment) Limited) was a British outsourcing subcontractor established in 2000 as a public, private and voluntary company that provided welfare services and help with employability. It was acquired by the ...

(33.3%)

Department of Energy and Climate Change

National Nuclear Laboratory The National Nuclear Laboratory (informally NNL, formerly Nexia Solutions) is a UK government owned and operated nuclear services technology provider covering the whole of the nuclear fuel cycle. It is fully customer-funded and operates at six ...

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, formed by the Energy Act 2004. It evolved from the Coal and Nuclear Liabilities Unit of the Department o ...

* Nuclear Liabilities Fund

HM Treasury

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...

Ministry of Defence

UK Hydrographic Office The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is the UK's agency for providing hydrographic and marine geospatial data to mariners and maritime organisations across the world. The UKHO is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is l ...

Corporate Finance Practice

The Corporate Finance Practice contains businesses where the Shareholder Executive has no clear shareholding mandate and its only role is to provide advice to the relevant government department.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Student Loans Company The Student Loans Company (SLC) is an executive non-departmental public body company in the United Kingdom that provides student loans. It is owned by the UK Government's Department for Education (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the Welsh ...

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

*Public Sector

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

Department of Health

Bio Products Laboratory The Bio Products Laboratory (BPL) is a company involved in the manufacture of human blood plasma products, located in Elstree in the United Kingdom. It is run as a commercial business and supplies plasma derived products to the National Health S ...

(20%) * Community Health Partnerships *

NHS Professionals NHS Professionals supplies clinical and non-clinical temporary staff to the NHS and provides workforce services to health and care organisations. It operates a membership base of healthcare professionals (known as 'Bank Members') who work flexible ...

* NHS Shared Business Services (50%)

Ministry of Defence

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the ...

Defence Storage and Distribution Agency The Defence Storage and Distribution Agency was an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The DSDA operated from locations in the United Kingdom and northern Germany and was the storage and di ...

Defence Support Group The Defence Support Group (DSG) was an executive agency and wholly owned trading fund of the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom. It was established on 1 April 2008 by the merger of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency and the Army Base Rep ...

Oil and Pipelines Agency The Oil and Pipelines Agency (OPA) is a statutory corporation of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the United Kingdom. Its current role is to operate six coastal Oil Fuel Depots on behalf of the MoD. The OPA was also previously responsible for th ...

Former businesses

The Shareholder Executive has previously been responsible for a number of other businesses that have since either been sold, moved to other areas of government or dissolved. * Actis – remaining stake sold in 2012 *

Army Base Repair Organisation The Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) was an executive agency which reported to the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. It provided engineering, repair and re-manufacturing services to the British Armed Forces and also to the police and so ...

– merged into Defence Support Group in 2008 *

– moved to UKFI in 2008 *

British Energy British Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France (EDF) in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal-fired power ...

– remaining stake sold during

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

EDF Energy EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses through ...

in 2009 *

British Nuclear Fuels British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) was a nuclear power, nuclear energy and nuclear fuel, fuels company owned by the UK Government. It was a manufacturer of nuclear fuel (notably MOX), ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed a ...

– broken up and ceased activities in 2009 *

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...

– removed from portfolio to become charitable trust in 2012 *

Defence Aviation Repair Agency The Defence Aviation Repair Agency, better known as DARA, was an executive agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, responsible for the maintenance and repair of Royal Air Force, Army and the Royal Navy's aircraft. It became part of the ...

– merged into Defence Support Group in 2008 *

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...

– remaining stake sold in 2015 *

Fire Service College The Fire Service College is responsible for providing leadership, management and advanced operational training courses for senior fire officers from the United Kingdom and foreign fire authorities. It is located at Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucester ...

– removed from portfolio in 2007 *

Forensic Science Service The Forensic Science Service (FSS) was a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provided forensic science services to the police forces and government agencies of England and Wales, as well as other countries. The UK Government ...

– dissolved in 2012 *

Covent Garden Market Authority New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, London, is the largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in the United Kingdom. It covers a site of and is home to about 200 fruit, vegetable and flower companies. The market serves 40% of the f ...

– moved to Government Property Unit in 2011 *

Northern Ireland Water Northern Ireland Water Limited ( ga, Uisce Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Wattèr'') is a water company in Northern Ireland. Formerly an executive agency within Northern Ireland Executive, it became a government-owned comp ...

removed from portfolio in 2010 *

– moved to UKFI in 2008 *

Northern Rock (Asset Management) Landmark Mortgages Limited, formerly Northern Rock (Asset Management) plc and later NRAM plc, is a British asset holding and management company which was split away from the Northern Rock bank in 2010. It was publicly owned through the British ...

moved to UKFI in 2008 * Qinetiq – remaining stake sold in 2008 *

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre The Queen Elizabeth II Centre is a conference facility located in the City of Westminster, London, close to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Central Hall Westminster and Parliament Square. History The site now occupied by the Queen ...

– moved to Government Property Unit in 2011 *

Partnerships UK Partnerships UK plc (PUK) was an centralized unit responsible for furthering public-private partnerships in the United Kingdom. It was a public limited company formed in 2000, owned jointly by HM Treasury and the private sector. It ceased activity ...

– dissolved in 2011 *

– remaining stake sold in 2015 *

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households ...

– removed from portfolio in 2011 *

The Tote The Tote is a British gambling company which is the largest pool betting operator in the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Wigan, England, its main products are sports betting and online casino. Founded in 1928, the company was owned by the U ...

– sold to

Betfred Betfred is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Greater Manchester, Ordsall, County Borough of Salford, Salford, in 1967. Its ...

in 2011 *

UK Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ...

– commercial business unit sold to

Babcock International Group Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

in 2009

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/the-shareholder-executive
Shareholder Executive annual review 2013 to 2014

Shareholder Executive annual review 2014 to 2015
Corporate governance in the United Kingdom HM Treasury Public bodies and task forces of the United Kingdom government 2003 establishments in the United Kingdom Shareholders

Role

History

Portfolio Unit

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for International Development

Department for Transport

Department for Work and Pensions

Department of Energy and Climate Change

HM Treasury

Ministry of Defence

Corporate Finance Practice

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department of Health

Ministry of Defence

Former businesses

See also

References

External links