Christian Equitable Companies
“Creating Wealth Jesus’ Way”
The Vision
‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength’ and ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourselves’ are the two Great Commands on which all others are based. Love your neighbour as you love yourself is to be the foundation for business, as for all our Christian life.
‘Christian Equitable Companies’ (CECs) are the first to be built on this basis – returning to the roots of Christian faith.
“We love our customers by supplying them with products or services which we would want for ourselves”
Investors, innovators and workers are embraced by a structure where each shares both responsibility and reward.
“We love our workers by treating them as we treat ourselves”
A good business is like a well planted vineyard producing wine to gladden people’s hearts for years to come. Dreaming, planning and labouring to produce such a vineyard is part of our living in the image of God.
“Our aim is that we will prosper, and our workers and customers will prosper with us”
By gathering a body of people to work together fruitfully, not only will they support and enrich each other but customers will be delighted, young people will be given a future and a hope and ultimately, the whole community will prosper.
“We will not enrich ourselves at the expense of others”
Summary of CEC Model
A CEC establishes a point of equivalence for the contribution of labour (by workers) and capital (by investors). If a worker works for one year and an investor invests the cost of one year’s salary, their contribution is deemed equivalent.
An amount equal to the mean salary of full time employees for one year is called one ‘Investment Unit.’ An Investment Unit merits the same responsibility in the company and the same reward from the profits of the company.
Both worker and investor also have one vote in company elections and one portion of profit for each continuous year they have either worked for the company or kept their capital in the company.
Each investor is a member and has one vote in Company elections and one portion of profit for each full year of each investment unit. Each worker also becomes a member with one vote and one portion of profit for each full year they have worked in the Company.
When a worker leaves the company or dies, they cease to be members. Equally, when an investor withdraws their investment, they cease to be members and when an investor dies; their investment is paid back so that they cease to be members.
The Benefits
✓ It is in the interest of both workers and investors equally that the company is successful and salaries increase.
✓ Investors and workers prosper together. The value of investors’ capital increases in line with wage inflation and they also receive a portion of profit each year.
✓ Workers, especially those who stay with the company over a long period, share substantially in the profits. Workers’ entitlement to portions of profit will encourage them to put in more than the minimum necessary quality of work.
✓ Workers will be able also to invest in the company so that after retirement they continue to be investor members.
✓ The company is not a piece of property which can be bought and sold but a community of workers and investors.
✓ As CECs grow in developing countries an increasing proportion of the wealth generated will stay in these countries, contributing substantially to the lessening of poverty.
The Future
The first CEC, Ladder Media Ltd., a small publishing company, has been established and registered with Companies House.
We are planning to set up a Venture Capital Company, provisionally called Jerusalem Developments, using the CEC model, to plant CECs. This company will need a number of investor members and a very small staff.
Each CEC will develop in its own way. Some, with large initial investment capital will continue to be controlled more by the investors. Others, with smaller initial investment capital and a growing workforce, will be controlled more by the workers. The need for further capital to develop some companies will alter the balance. But in each CEC investors and workers will be unable to ignore the views of each other and will work in a unique partnership.
Once the CEC model has been successfully trialled, it will be promoted widely. We expect that Governments will be keen to develop CECs as, through them, the fruits of business are shared more equitably in many communities.
A CEC built according to what Jesus commanded, will be built on rock. The storms and floods will come, but it is more likely to stand firm, providing security and prosperity for all its members and giving glory to our Father in heaven.
If you are interested
We would like to talk to anyone who is interested in supporting the development of this foundational model in any way.
Roger Harper lad1@laddermedia.co.uk