Ownership, Aims and Objectives. In this assignment I have been asked to research a variety of companies and put them into three main areas of ownership. These are: the private sector, the public sector and the charity and voluntary organisation sector.

Public Limited Company

Nat West Bank

Nat West is a large bank. They have branches in multiple countries. It is a Public Limited company, PLC, which means that the business is owned by shareholders. Of course, there is someone with more than everyone else, the majority shareholder. Anyone can buy shares, but they can lose value, as well as gain. The good thing about Public Limited Companies is that you can’t lose your own possessions that haven’t been invested in the company if you are in debt. You can also make extra money buy issuing and selling more shares, but the value of current shares depreciates. The company could use this money to put towards the company, or for dividends etc. Nat West Bank is a company that gives financial advice, loans and protection to their customers, but their main objective is still to make a profit. This is important because the shareholders’ shares are worth more. When shares are worth less they lose money. They have to trade at the current rate, and the rate has to be higher than when they bought their shares to make a profit. If the shares are selling at a high rate then it damages the company. Nat West can use profit to advertise, re-invest, expand or increase dividends. Increasing dividends is essential. This is when the company gives out a small amount of their profit to their share holders, about 5%. Increasing the dividend will attract more share holders as there is money being given out. Increasing the dividend also stops the company from spending this money on the company and it’s growth.

Public Sector

Saddleworth School

Saddleworth School is a small national company. The business is located in Uppermill, Saddleworth. It operates under the public sector of the economy. The taxpayer funds the business through the government. The company doesn’t aim to make a profit; it aims to provide education to teenagers. The money from the council they get every year is non-negotiable, so they can’t get any more than given. The council controls and owns development of the school whereas Mrs. Cornish runs the business. The business has been de-centralized, which means that the government has given the power to someone else, in our case, the Oldham Council. The school has many departments, there is Art, English, Foreign Languages, ICT, Business Studies, Drama, Maths, Science and many more!

Sole Trader

JW Buckley

JW Buckley is located at the Uppermill square. This is central; everyone that knows the store can get to it. The business is quite small; it operates in a single town and most people outside the Saddleworth region do not know the store. A sole trader is the smallest type of business ownership. Even though Buckley’s can employ people, the company remains small, consisting of only 2 stores. The owner has full control and runs the company fully. There is no legal difference between the company and the owner. The main purpose of JW Buckley is to provide food and drink to the local people. They do cater for businesses but it is much more complicated than ordering a sandwich! It is easy to set up a business as a sole trade; you do not need to worry about staffing in many cases, all you really need worry about is the stock and the premises. Compared to setting up a franchise, this is quite easy! You must register your company, send all information about it to Inland Revenue and send tax documents, and then the company is ready to go. The sole trader himself is responsible for company debts and the government can take his/her properties and any belongings away from them. This basically means that the business is tied to the assets of the owner.

Partnership

Ryder And Dutton

Ryder and Dutton are located in Uppermill, Mossley, Aston, Oldham,

Chadderton, Middleton, Glossop, Heywood, Rochdale, Shaw,

Halifax, Huddersfield and Wakefield. Ryder and Dutton is a

Medium sized business, it is in a single region, but it serves many

Cities. They provide the service of valuing houses, and buying/selling

houses to potential customers. Ryder And Dutton is a partnership business, which means that 2 and up to 20 people can own the business. The company has a commercial section, in which they advertise commercial buildings. A commercial building is somewhere that people exchange things voluntarily.  The partners decide on strategies for the business. If one partner has more money invested or more skill then they will probably be a more dominant partner. Your business must be registered with the companies house, tax documents and a deed of partnership must also be registered, these must depict who has how much of the business and what peoples’ specific jobs are. It is necessary to have a deed of partnership because you can share the profits and losses with people that are on the document. Advantages of being in a partnership are that you have someone else’s expertise and skill, which is different to sole traders, where everything relies on you. Also, if your business fails, you share the losses with others. Disadvantages are that your possessions may be taken from you if your business fails.

Private Sector

Co-Operatives

Co-Operative are a very large business classed under the Private Sector.

Their parent is the ‘United Co-Operative Ltd’

Their company has changed a lot over the past thirty years that is has operated.

It was previously owned by the workers who owned shares and received parts of the profits.

The ownership is now limited to members. You may apply to be a member, but you must have a stable financial situation. Members have full control over the companies and suggest strategies for it, but these need to be agreed by a board of elected directors.

The companies purpose is to provide goods and in some cases, services, that are required by society. These are in the following subsections;

• Food
• Travel
• Motoring
• Healthcare
• Funerals

There are three main types of co-operative:

• Co-Operative retail - The companies buy in bulk and sell on to the public or to various businesses. Most of the businesses stated above fall into this category.

• Co-Operative trading society - buying and reselling goods, mainly for profit.

• Worker Co-Operative – Owned by workers and profit is distributed among staff.

Many changes to the ‘Co-Op’ have been made in recent years, including colour coding parts of the business. For example, all food retailing stores now have lime green shop fronts.