ABSTRACT
Prior to 1979, the United Kingdom possessed one of the largest public enterprise sectors in Europe. In the years after, the Conservative government undertook an extensive privatisation programme. Between 1979 and 1997 in excess of £60 billions of state assets (excluding proceeds from the sale of council houses) were sold to the private sector and the share of employment accounted for by publicly owned industries fell from over 7 per cent to under 2 per cent.
