Abbey National becomes a company

Abstract The Abbey National flotation which turned a building society into a public company was one of the largest to have taken place in the U.K., as also was the preceding private ballot of members of the building society, a proportion of whom had formed themselves into the Abbey Members against Flotation. The arguments for the conversion are outlined, as are the arrangments for the ballot and then the flotation, and the lessons to be learned from the whole operation.