History of the World Centre

The European Centre for Employee Share Ownership was founded in 1988 to take the idea of Esops to the continent. Over the years, the European Centre has worked with various multinational companies and European level institutions.  It has provided input to PEPPER reports.  The World Centre’s conference in Cannes has now been running for over twenty years and the Davos conference for more than ten.

The decision to change the name of the European Centre to ‘The World Centre’ was taken in the Autumn of 2008, shortly before the Centre held its pathfinder conference in Dubai:  ‘Employee Equity Plan Opportunities in the Gulf’. Many of the contacts we made in Dubai are still with us today. Although the onset of the global economic tsunami dampened nascent enthusiasm for employee share ownership in the Gulf region, the Centre is convinced that interest in the Eso concept will revive there once the recovery is well under way.

Recent Work: read about the World Centre’s work on the Prospectus Directive and with the European Economic and Social Committee on financial participation.