Wincott Foundation

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The Wincott Foundation is a charitable foundation chaired by Sir Geoffrey Owen, a former editor of the Financial Times and Senior Fellow in the Department of Management at the London School of Economics. It spends around £30,000 to £40,000 annually and is best known for its Annual UK Press Awards when print and broadcast journalists are given awards for economic, business and financial journalism.

Origins and ideological orientation

The Wincott Foundation was founded in April 1969 by Ralph Harris, [1] the self-described ‘radical reactionary’ who directed the Institute of Economic Affairs. [2] It was established in honour of Harold Wincott, an editor of the Investor's Chronicle and a contributor to the Financial Times. [3] Ostensibly it was set up for 'the encouragement and promotion of the highest standards in economic and financial journalism', but in reality it would form part of the network of organisations promoting neoliberalism; an economic model intended to expand corporate power and roll back the democratic achievements of the post-war era. It hosted lectures by the radical right-wing economist Milton Friedman and was instrumental in the establishment of the Social Affairs Unit in 1980. [4] According to the Daily Telegraph, Ralph Harris remained the 'moving spirit in the Wincott Foundation' until his death in 2006. [5]

The Foundation's trustees listed in the original Trust Deed dated 10 June 1969 including a number of neoliberal economists: Graham Hutton, Stanley Dennison, Harold Rose, and Alan Walters; as well as William Clarke, a banker and former financial journalist; The Earl of Drogheda; Geoffrey Howe, who was later a Thatcherite Minister; David Robarts, Director of Robert Fleming & Co. Ltd and President of the British Bankers’ Association; Peter Scott, Chairman of Provincial Insurance Co. Ltd; and John Wood of the Institute of Economic Affairs. [6]

Financial Statements

The Wincott Foundation Accounts, made up to 30 June 2003
The Wincott Foundation Accounts, made up to 30 June 2004
The Wincott Foundation Accounts, made up to 30 June 2005
The Wincott Foundation Accounts, made up to 30 June 2006
The Wincott Foundation Accounts, made up to 30 June 2007
The Wincott Foundation Accounts, made up to 30 June 2008
The Wincott Foundation Accounts, made up to 30 June 2009

Notes

  1. PDF of IEA, About the IEA: chronology, <http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?ID=24&type=page> created 19 March 2010
  2. Andrew Roth, 'Lord Harris of High Cross: Rightwing economist with a radical agenda', Guardian, 20 October 2006
  3. WINCOTT, Harold Edward’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [Accessed 19 March 2010]
  4. 'Obituary: Lord Harris of High Cross', Daily Telegraph, 20 October 2006
  5. 'Obituary: Lord Harris of High Cross', Daily Telegraph, 20 October 2006
  6. The Wincott Foundation Trust Deed