In the United Kingdom a Personal Equity Plan was a form of tax-privileged investment account. They were introduced by Nigel Lawson in the 1986 budget for Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government to encourage equity ownership among the wider population. PEPs were allowed to contain collective investments such as unit trusts. In 1992 a new type of PEP called a single company PEP was introduced only allowed to hold single company shares. To distinguish between the two types the original variety were called general PEPs.