When the UK government came to power in the summer of 2024, they updated their previously announced mission regarding economic growth to “Raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, so working people have more money in their pocket as we aim to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7."

 Rather than simply promising a growing economy, they were clear that they wanted individuals to directly feel the benefit of that growth. Greater share ownership does this by giving individuals and households the ability to take a stake in growing companies and directly gain from the part they play in wider macroeconomic progress.

Mass campaigns to encourage wider share ownership have been undertaken at various points in history to connect individuals with the economy. By facilitating the purchase of shares in public companies, capital markets have long allowed individuals to share in the success of companies whose products they buy, and who employ them and their families.

As part of Barclays’ recent report on ‘Empowering retail savers to engage with investing', we made some observations on the different attitudes of potential investors versus those already investing. We found that potential investors were much less engaged than existing investors by concepts such as tax incentives as a reason to start investing. When we tested different messaging material, they engaged more with messages that highlighted that investing was simple and accessible - reflecting their perception that currently it was neither of those things.

As a result, we decided the matter needed further exploration so set ourselves the question 'What is needed to make a mass investing campaign effective in creating an engaged, investing public?' The result is a new report, 'A New Message to Tell Sid'.