Working with family businesses across the UK we recognise that they are the bedrock of communities and take a long term view that is built on the long term stewardship of people and resources. Strong values are at their core and they demonstrate a strong commitment to their staff with a history of acting as responsible employers which includes the provision of pensions to their employees.
Many family firms in the UK now have significant pensions scheme obligations too with family business owners committed to ensuring that their business is able to meet these sustainably whilst also investing in growth for the future.
The team at Western Pension Solutions (‘WPS’) were delighted to contribute to the family business response to The Pensions Regulator as part of the broader consultation into the Future of Trusteeship and Governance submitted by the Institute for Family Business and a copy of the full response is available upon request.
Jon Sharp, Director of WPS outlines the key messages with regards the response, adding, “Pensions governance is an important area for family firms and we totally agree that good pensions governance leading to open, honest and informed discussions will lead to the best outcomes for all stakeholders (pensioners, employees and shareholders).”
“However, due to their heritage, culture, values and diverse operating models, family businesses have a wide range of different governance structures which are very successful for their own circumstances. It is therefore really important for the governance of the pension scheme to align with the structures of the business to ensure that everyone can work to find the right balance between the needs of the different stakeholders involved.”
“We do believe that it is therefore important that the regulation in this area isn’t too prescriptive and allows each family business to find the structures that work best for them going forward.”
As Jon concludes, “We look forward to the outcome of the consultation in due course.”
