'Our staff effectively work one day a week for charity'

Our employees, known as co-members, love the fact they are effectively working one day a week for charity.

- James Reed

What became clear while researching the book is that PhilCos perform better - in terms of longevity, culture, employee retention, social impact and, yes, financial performance too. This isn't some utopian concept either.

In Europe - particularly Scandinavia - this model is more prevalent, encouraged in some countries by tax incentives. Some of the world’s biggest brands - IKEA, Carlsberg, Lego, Novo Nordisk and Rolex among them ~ adopt the PhilCo structure. And it works. In Denmark, just 10% of traditional companies survive to 40 years, but a third of PhilCos do.

The PhilCo culture is more fundamental than any tick-box ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) exercise.