A leading private equity figure has insisted that the much-maligned business model is good for employees.
Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of US private equity firm Blackstone, told delegates at the CBI annual conference that it was a “force for good”.
Private equity bosses have been derided by trade unions as asset-stripping fat cats in the wake of job cuts at household names such as motoring organisation the AA.
But Schwarzman said: “We are not greedy speculators out to make a quick buck. Private equity does great things that benefit a great number of people. We take the tough, unpopular decisions that other management teams dodge.
“We move people from jobs rooted in the past to the jobs of the future in the markets set to grow. We are here to stay as a force for good in the global economy.”
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Members of union GMB held a demonstration at the Personnel Today HR Awards last week, after the AA was nominated for the Business partnering award at Grosvenor House, which it subsequently won.
GMB described the award as similar to “giving A Food Award To A Butcher Disregarding Fact That The Meat Went On To Poison Thousands With E Coli.”
