There will be no reduction in headcount under George Osborne's plan to merge the two organisations which look after taxpayer assets, CSW has been told.
In a speech to the CBI on Wednesday night, the chancellor revealed that the Shareholder Executive (ShEx) and UK Financial Investments (UKFI) are to be merged into a single body called UK Government Investments (UKGI), which will be asked to deliver what Osborne called the "biggest ever sale of publicly-owned corporate and financial assets".
ShEx – currently part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – oversees the government’s financial interest in state-owned or part-owned businesses, including Companies House and the Met Office, while UKFI was set up to manage the public stake in bailed-out banks Lloyds, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock at the height of the global financial crisis.
CSW understands that there will be no reduction in headcount because of the merger, with staff at ShEx staying in BIS on current terms and conditions while the transfer to the new organisation is completed.
The move is intended to bring Whitehall's corporate finance and governance expertise under one roof, with the new teams co-located and expected to share IT and back-office functions in a bid to save money. Contractual terms will be preserved for all staff moving into the UKGI. The Treasury has said it expects the new company to be up and running by the autumn.
It was announced on Wednesday that Mark Russell, who has served as chief executive of the ShEx since 2013, would be stepping up to become CEO of the new UKGI entity.