Britain floated TSB in 1986, giving 3.1 million savers shares in their own bank

The Trustee Savings Banks had operated for 150 years as a loose confederation of community savings banks, with ownership unclear. The flotation needed 1985 legislation, and Scottish customers sued, claiming depositors owned the banks; a 1986 House of Lords decision allowed the sale to proceed.

TSB launched a large marketing campaign, set aside priority shares for customers, and aimed for half of all new shareholders to be clients. The 1986 flotation passed ownership to about 3.1 million shareholders and gave the bank roughly £1.5 billion of capital.

The bank over-reached after the float, buying Target and Hill Samuel, and hit a £47 million loss in 1991. A retreat to retail banking and insurance produced profits of £301 million in 1993 and £504 million in 1994, before Lloyds merged with TSB in 1995.

≈£1.5bn of capital and 3.1m shareholders in 1986; profit of £504m by 1994

Giving depositors and customers priority shares turned the ownership dispute into a marketing advantage.

A mass-marketing campaign made ordinary savers, not institutions, the backbone of the shareholder register.

The flotation capitalised the bank for growth, though it took a post-float stumble to learn discipline.

When ownership of a state asset is disputed, giving the claimants priority in the sale can turn a legal fight into buy-in: TSB's customer-first float created 3.1 million shareholders.

TSB recovered from its post-flotation losses, reaching £504 million profit in 1994 with 7.5 million customers, and merged with Lloyds Bank in 1995 to form Lloyds TSB. The brand was later spun out again in 2013, and the 1986 float remains a landmark of UK mass share ownership.