Also not good news for the diversification of the shareholder base, something good governance used to encourage but which has fallen out of favour in recent years.

I would imagine this move will encourage many smaller shareholders to sell up, leaving just the big boys like Standard Life, BlackRock and Invesco:

http://www.es.iairgroup.com/phoenix....holdingsshares

It's a shame more shares aren't given to crew after a certain amount of service; having those working on board as part owners (however small) of the company would have a marked effect.