CGGVeritas has been awarded the the National Association of Pension Funds Pension Quality Mark (PQM) for its group personal pension (GPP) plan.

The geophysical exploration specialist was assisted by Capita Hartshead Actuarial and Consultancy Services, which is advising the firm on how to best prepare for the forthcoming 2012 pension reforms.

Its GPP was established in 2009 and currently has around 320 members with £10.5 million in savings.

Ian Thornton, senior vice president at CGGVeritas, said: “In 2009, we made a strategic decision to set up a new contract-based pension arrangement with Standard Life. The pension plan is a core element of our employee benefits so we feel we should apply similar levels of governance to this as we do to our trust-based scheme.

“Gaining the PQM helps us to demonstrate our commitment to quality pension provision to our employees and to promote the importance of retirement savings.”

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