Government officially cancels sale of NatWest shares to the public

The Chancellor has officially cancelled the retail sale of the Government’s remaining stake in NatWest.

In a speech this afternoon, Rachel Reeves confirmed that the government’s £5.6bn retail sale of the stake will be cancelled and it will instead be sold privately in 2025.

Reeves said the stock discounts would cost “hundreds of millions” and were a “misuse of taxpayers’ money.”

The planned retail share sale was announced by Jeremy Hunt, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, in last year’s autumn budget.

The Conservatives planned a sale and arranged for M&C Saatchi to launch an advertising campaign called ‘Tell Sid’, the slogan used to encourage people to buy British Gas shares in 1986.

Last week NatWest revealed it had already spent £24m on an aborted campaign and fees.

NatWest’s retail sale was expected to be an opportunity to encourage more people to develop long-term saving and investment habits.

Sarah Coles, personal finance director at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The news that retail investors will be left out as NatWest shares are sold is deeply disappointing.

‘Retail investors are too often overlooked, yet they are important backers of UK companies, holding a larger proportion of their assets in the UK compared to pension funds such as these.’

Danni Hewson, head of financial research at AJ Bell, said: ‘A retail bid for NatWest was widely expected to be abandoned.

‘Offering the government’s remaining stake in the bank in a ‘Tell Sid’ style campaign would undoubtedly have come at a significant discount, one that seems unnecessary given the bank’s recent performance and the interest in buying the shares from institutional investors.

‘While protecting the taxpayer is understandable and even laudable, the share sale could have been used as a valuable catalyst to attract first-time investors.’

‘Creating a teachable moment that could have changed the investment landscape for the better.’

The last Labour government bailed out the struggling lender during the 2008 financial crisis and at its peak taxpayers’ share was 84 per cent.