Chris Rees

Chris left the university and retired in July 2025.

Here is a 200-word bio …

Chris Rees is Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London. He joined Royal Holloway in 2008, having previously been a lecturer at Kingston University and a trade union research officer. His research has focussed on forms of employee participation and representation, the employment consequences of mergers and takeovers, and worker voice in corporate governance. He has published in journals such as Economic & Industrial Democracy, European Journal of Industrial Relations, Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, Industrial Relations Journal, Business & Society, and Research in the Sociology of Organizations. He is lead editor of the Edward Elgar Handbook on the Sociology of Work (2025). Chris has worked on commissioned policy reports with, among others, the European Commission, Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Financial Reporting Council, Involvement & Participation Association, UK Department of Trade & Industry, Financial Fairness Trust, High Pay Centre, and Labour Business. He has served on the editorial board of journals including Work Employment & Society and the Journal of Participation & Employee Ownership. Chris studied sociology at Kidderminster FE College and the University of Bristol and has an MA in Industrial Relations and a PhD from the University of Warwick.

Selected publications since 2020:

Alexeeva, A., Gold, M. and Rees, C. (2026) Pathways to global worker representation: Three case studies in the metalworking sector, Economic and Industrial Democracy (in press).

Rees, C., Bozkurt, O., Limoncelli, S. and Preminger, J. (eds.) (2025) Edward Elgar Handbook on the Sociology of Work, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Goffey, P., Hildyard, L. and Rees, C. (2024) A Charter For Fair Pay: Policy Reforms to Raise Pay and Reduce Inequality, Edinburgh: abrdn Financial Fairness Trust.

Rees, C. and Briône, P. (2024) Employee voice at board level: Responses to the revised UK Corporate Governance Code and the prospects for workplace democracy, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 45(3), 816–834.

Rees, C. (2024) Pluralism and corporate governance reform, Employee Relations, 46(6), 1320–1331.

Rees, C. and Dobbins, T. (2024) Employee Voice: BLER in Focus, Governance and Compliance, Issue 4, July/August, London: Chartered Governance Institute of UK and Ireland.

Rees, C. (2023) Corporate Governance, in S. Johnstone, J. Rodriguez and A. Wilkinson (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Human Resource Management (2^nd edn.), Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Rees, C. and Briône, P. (2021) Workforce Engagement and the UK Corporate Governance Code: A Review of Company Reporting and Practice, London: Financial Reporting Council.

Gold, M. and Rees, C. (2021) The regulation of takeover bids in the UK: An evaluation of provisions for employee involvement, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 42(3), 599–620.

Rees, C. and Offenbach, D. (2021) Takeovers and the UK Economy: A Reform Agenda, London: Labour Business.

Rees, C. and Gold, M. (2020) Re-connecting capitalism: Prospects for the regulatory reform of the employee interest in UK takeovers, Industrial Relations Journal, 51(6), 502–516.

Rees, C. and Offenbach, D. (2020) Towards Democratic and Sustainable Business: Possibilities for Corporate Governance Reform, London: Labour Business.

Gold, M., Preuss, L. and Rees, C. (2020) Moving out of the comfort zone? Trade union revitalisation and corporate social responsibility, Journal of Industrial Relations, 62(1), 132–155.

More research outputs here:

https://royalholloway.academia.edu/ChrisRees