Media ownership - a Skye high

Marvellous news from our friends in the far north. The West Highland Free Press is to become that rarest of rare entities - an employee-owned local newspaper.
Press Gazette blog The Wire is reporting that the title's owners have agreed to sell to their staff who are supported by ownership investment vehicle the Baxi Partnership.
This is a refreshing outlook from all three key parties and my best wishes go to the Isle of Skye's terrific ten. Here's to you, here's to success - and here's to the ripple effects of your inspirational move.
The paper may have a weekly sales figure of under 9,000 but it's a respected provider of a crucial local service and, importantly, is an enterprise with a long and very relevant future.
Encouragingly, there are strong indications that the new owners will not simply produce a decent paper. The Wire reports that the WHFP - meshed by an employee benefits trust to hold staff shares and maintain independence - wishes to create a news agency and further develop digital platforms.
Looking at the broader picture, a press release on the Baxi website states: "This year the UK Employee Ownership Index (EOI) revealed that employee owned companies outperformed the FTSE All-Share in the second quarter of 2009 by 19.9%."
Co-operative Development Scotland (CDS) has played a big part in this development which was unable to tap into traditional routes of finance. CDS chief exec Sarah Deas is quoted as saying: "Research shows that employee-owned businesses are more productive and sustainable, so there is enormous potential for this type of ownership model to contribute to the development of Scotland's economy. Encouraging more business owners to consider an employee buyout is a priority and we are working to build awareness across the business community.”
There's so much food for thought here that I couldn't possibly manage another mouthful of this evening's neeps and tatties.

More
http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/wire/5756
www.baxipartnership.co.uk
www.whfp.com

Thanks for the tip-off
Ms Victoria Trott, one of Wales' finest travel writers - www.victoriatrott.com