It seems that this business was incorporated as a community interest company (CIC) [0]. The Wikipedia article for CIC [1] talks about more the concept of "asse

It seems that this business was incorporated as a community interest company (CIC) [0]. The Wikipedia article for CIC [1] talks about more the concept of "asset lock": > The articles of a CIC must also provide that its assets cannot be used except for the benefit of the community. This is known as the asset lock. It sounds like this is why the employees believed they had a right to the books. But it seems hard to say without knowing what the specific articles for this company. Of course, I know little of UK law, perhaps someone who is more familiar can chime in? 0: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15566212 https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/c... 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_interest_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_interest_company