What is the recipe for successful council companies?

Multiple challenges of rising inflation, increased material costs, inter-continental trade challenges and the cost-of-living pressures are having an impact on local government generally. The creation of council companies as a recipe for creating additional and new capital and revenue streams is also being affected. Trading circumstances are more challenging, business plans are being tested and political pressure may also be having an impact on commercial achievements. Based on interviews and case studies of three English councils, this paper offers some insight on critical success factors (CSF) for council companies. The findings include four CSFs: (1) Effective governance structure; (2) Programmatic performance evaluation for company staff; (3) Functioning board of directors based on business expertise; (4) Market assessment and monitoring.