Plan news

Acquisition of Equiniti

20 Dec 2021

Equiniti are delighted to confirm that the acquisition of EQ by Earth Private Holdings Ltd (a newly-formed company affiliated with Siris Group Capital, LLC (“Siris”)), is now complete, returning EQ to private ownership. Siris has recognised the strength of EQ’s people, expertise, and relationships with our clients. We are looking forward to an exciting future...

Plan news

EQ’s journey towards Net Zero

03 Nov 2021

Here at EQ, we’re working towards making a Net Zero commitment. We now understand our emissions and total carbon footprint across Scope 1 (direct emissions), Scope 2 (indirect emissions e.g. utilities) and Scope 3 (other indirect emissions e.g. suppliers).

Investment

What are ethical investments?

01 Jul 2021

Ethical investing is one of a number of terms used to identify sustainable approaches to investing. Others include Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Sustainable Investing and Impact Investing.

Plan news Funding

Financial highlights at 31 October 2020

01 Jul 2021

Each year the Trustee produces the Plan’s Annual Report and Financial Statements. You can view the full document in the Library section. Here's a summary of the key information.

Plan news

Don’t forget to manage your pension online

01 Jul 2021

Log on to ‘My pension’, the Secure Member Area of the website managed by our Administrator, Equiniti. View and update your contact details or use the online calculators to show you an estimate of your retirement benefits or get a transfer value.

Tax & Legislation

Budget update – limits on pension

01 Jul 2021

There was only one change to the limits on pension savings in the March 2021 Budget Statement

Plan news

Retirement process

01 Jul 2021

We are currently building out and enhancing the way we take members through the retirement process. 

Plan news Scams

Cyber security

01 Jul 2021

The Plan holds large amounts of personal information about our members and other assets which can make us a target for fraudsters and criminals.

Plan news Tax & Legislation

Guaranteed Minimum Pension

01 Jul 2021

We are still continuing to work with our advisers to determine the next steps, as are the trustees of many other UK pension schemes. 

Plan news

Don’t forget to manage your pension online

01 Jul 2021

Log on to ‘My pension’, the Secure Member Area of the website managed by our Administrator, Equiniti. View and update your contact details or use the online calculators to show you an estimate of your retirement benefits or get a transfer value.

Scams

Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG) – Code of Best Practice

10 May 2021

On 1 April 2021, the PSIG announced the launch of version 2.2 of its Code of Best Practice – Combatting Pension Scams. PSIG is a voluntary body established to combat pension scams through the publication of good practice in due diligence for trustees, providers and administrators.

Plan news Tax & Legislation

Tax year end update

08 Apr 2021

The UK tax year ends on 5th April. There are some extra processes that apply to pensions on or around tax year end, triggered by HMRC. We have provided some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below for some of the topics that we often get asked about these.

Plan news

Pensions Dashboards – call to action

08 Apr 2021

Some of you will be familiar with the idea of the Pensions Dashboard; what you may not be aware of is that the idea is a lot closer to becoming reality than many people think. Dashboards will fundamentally change a member’s access to their data. Rather than the Trustee or employer pushing out invitations and...

Investment Tax & Legislation

Budget 2021 update

08 Apr 2021

In the days running up to the Chancellor’s second budget speech on 3 March 2021, there had been the now customary talk of a major overhaul of the tax treatment of pensions but, once again, this failed to materialise. In reality, the only change was the freezing of the standard Lifetime Allowance (LTA) at its...

Plan news Tax & Legislation

Government consultation – increasing the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA)

08 Apr 2021

On 11 February 2021, HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs published a consultation paper on increasing the NMPA to 57 with effect from 6 April 2028.

Plan news

The route out of lockdown

08 Apr 2021

We are now in a world where increased flexibility in our working lives has become second nature to many people, and retaining that flexibility is likely to be increasingly important. Whilst some will be looking forward to being back in the office, reacquainting themselves with colleagues and enjoying being out of the house, others are...

Plan news

A year of lockdown

08 Apr 2021

In early 2020, none of us would have envisaged that going out for a walk would mean no more than an hour each day, travel restrictions, three periods of lockdown and, of course, the impact on so many lives and businesses across the globe as the pandemic struck.

Plan news Tax & Legislation

Pension Schemes Bill receives Royal Assent

26 Feb 2021

On 11 February 2021, the Pension Schemes Bill received Royal Assent and became the Pension Schemes Act 2021. Whilst it is good news for this particular piece of legislation to finally make it ‘over the line’, a great deal of the detail of the provisions which it contains will be set out in secondary legislation...

Scams

Pension scams: work and pensions committee inquiry

26 Feb 2021

On 27 January 2021, the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) questioned Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, as part of its inquiry into pension scams. During the session, the Minister made the following comments:

Plan news

Customer Experience Centre (CEC) update

26 Feb 2021

In January we launched the ability to complete ID&V with callers before they connect to one of our team of CEC representatives. Having worked with our telephony provider BT, the service now allows callers to submit their details (the details that we would normally have asked for over the telephone) by entering a member number...

Plan news

The end of lockdown?

26 Feb 2021

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has set out a four step plan to take many of us out of lockdown. The Government’s vaccination programme rollout is progressing well and we’re getting closer to some restrictions being lifted. Here are some of the key milestones from the Prime Minister’s plan:

Plan news Blogs & Podcasts Trustee

Interview with Andrew Dodd

27 Jan 2021

Andrew Dodd retired as a Trustee Director at the end of October, after serving 23 years on the trustee board. We took this opportunity to ask Andrew how he feels the role has changed since he first became a trustee and to find out his plans for the future.

Scams

The Pensions Regulator’s Pledge campaign to combat pension scams

21 Jan 2021

The campaign On 10 November 2020, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) launched its latest anti-pension scamming campaign when it called on the pensions industry to publicly pledge to combat pension scams. The campaign is supported by the Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG).

Plan news Tax & Legislation

Pension Schemes Bill update

20 Jan 2021

The Pension Schemes Bill (the Bill) went through the ‘consideration of amendments’ stage in Parliament on 19 January 2021. When a bill has passed through its third reading in both Houses of Parliament, it is returned to the first House where it started life (the Lords, in the case of this Bill) for any amendments...

Plan news

COVID-19 resilience

18 Jan 2021

As we entered 2021, rather than the improvement in conditions we had all hoped for, we saw a return to national lockdown. We have continued to ensure we have measures in place which will enable us to keep our people, and the services we deliver to you, as safe as we can. With the situation...