All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 171

  • Article

    Grant Thornton launches employee benefits consultancy

    2010-09-17T09:20:29Z

    Grant Thornton is launching an employee benefits consultancy.Grant Thornton Employee Benefits Consultancy will provide employee remuneration and pension advice, and arrangements to larger pension funds, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and professional firms.The consultancy will design benefit and reward structures, pension scheme restructuring, the harmonisation of cross-border benefits including qualifying ...

  • Article

    FTSE 350 defined benefit pension deficits fall by £12 billion

    2010-09-16T09:15:58Z

    The total deficit in the defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of the FTSE 350 stood at £90 billion at the end of June, according to research from Pension Capital Strategies.This represents an improvement of £12 billion on the position a year ago.Pension Capital Strategies' report The FTSE 350 and their ...

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    Mercer research: Majority of organisations reviewing expatriate benefits

    2010-09-15T10:13:48Z

    Nine out of 10 organisations are planning to review or revise their global expatriate policies, including benefits and allowances, in order to cut costs.According to Mercer’s ‘International Assignments Survey 2010’ which collects data from over 220 multinational firms across all industries, among all regions, benefits (housing, education and home leave) ...

  • Article

    The BOC Group achieves good bikes for work take up

    2010-09-14T23:00:00Z

    The BOC Group has achieved a 4% take up of its cycle-to-work scheme since it was launched in May. This is †double the average scheme take up of 2%.The scheme was launched after a ‘Green Ideas At Work’ campaign highlighted employees desire for a green way to commute to work.As ...

  • Article

    BBC adds career average scheme to pension proposals

    2010-09-14T10:56:12Z

    The BBC has proposed adding a career average (Care) scheme called CAB 2011 to its pension proposals.This option joins two previous proposals to members of its defined benefit (DB) scheme: the option to stay in the scheme with a 1% annual cap on the future growth of pensionable pay or ...

  • Article

    BA’s Heathrow staff vote to accept flexible working deal

    2010-09-14T09:34:00Z

    British Airways’ Heathrow staff have voted to accept new working practices which include more flexible working arrangements.The deal, which was agreed with the Unite and GMB trade unions, covers 2,850 staff based at Terminals 3 and 5.This follows agreements already reached with Balpa, the union representing the airline’s pilots and ...

  • Article

    Epsilon to introduce pensions salary sacrifice

    2010-09-13T23:00:00Z

    Epsilon is to introduce a salary sacrifice arrangement to its group personal pension (GPP) plan on 1 November, introduce critical illness insurance and launch an online benefits system.The computer and peripherals firm will roll out the option to its 80 UK staff. Half of the employer national insurance (NI) savings ...

  • Article

    Average pay for junior City staff starts to rise

    2010-09-13T10:02:43Z

    The average pay for junior City staff has risen aggressively over the summer, according to Astbury Marsden, a financial services recruitment firm.Average base salaries for City workers at assistant vice president level have increased by 12% from £62,945 to £70,480 over the last year.Up until the last three months more ...

  • Article

    Vebnet refreshes its brand

    2010-09-13T09:18:15Z

    Vebnet has completed a brand refresh to coincide with its tenth anniversary and introduced a new strapline, ‘Shaping Futures Together’.Gerry O’Neill, chief executive officer of Vebnet, said: “We decided it was time to refresh Vebnet’s look and feel, but felt there was no need for a complete rebrand.“The purchase of ...

  • Article

    Resolution completes acquisition of Axa UK Life

    2010-09-13T08:40:04Z

    Resolution has completed the acquisition of the Axa UK life businesses comprising protection, corporate benefits and pensions.The combined business is now held by Friends Provident Holdings (UK) which will have almost 6,000 employeesFriends Life, the new brand name for the combined business, is expected to be unveiled in early 2011.Following ...

  • Article

    Fair Care launches benefits management system

    2010-09-12T23:00:00Z

    Fair Care has launched a voluntary and flexible benefits management system called ‘Benefit Select’ which will be initially rolled out to its 1,000 employer clients.Organisations can use the system to improve the presentation of existing benefits, add or remove benefits instantly, and give employers control and flexibility over their benefits ...

  • Article

    Royal Mail opens two more onsite gyms

    2010-09-09T09:27:14Z

    Royal Mail has added onsite gyms to two of its depots: the Mount Pleasant and Paisley sorting offices.Royal Mail now has 27 sites run by Energy Fitness Professionals (EFP).The onsite gyms offer fitness consultations and health checks, programming, weight management, cholesterol and body stat testing, and one-to-one training sessions.Jon Durrant, ...

  • Article

    Directors' pensions worth 26 times the average pension fund

    2010-09-09T09:24:17Z

    Directors of the UK’s top organistaions have amassed pensions pots that are 26 times the average occupational pension, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) PensionsWatch survey.The survey, which analyses the pension arrangements of 329 directors from 102 of the UK’s top organisations, shows the average transfer value for a ...

  • Article

    Linklaters and Clifford Chance top The Legal 500 in employee share schemes

    2010-09-08T09:12:52Z

    Linklaters has been highly recommended among law firms specialising in employee share schemes, according to The Legal 500.The annual guide to the UK legal profession and the country’s top lawyers is the result of nine months of research and is now in its 23rd year.Linklaters’ blue-chip clients include Aviva, BAE ...

  • Article

    Tim Banks appointed head of DC sales at AllianceBernstein

    2010-09-08T08:41:23Z

    AllianceBernstein has appointed Tim Banks head of defined contribution (DC) sales to further develop the firm’s expansion efforts in the UK DC market.Banks brings more than 20 years of experience in the pensions industry to AllianceBernstein. He joins from Prudential where he was director of business development, responsible for the ...

  • Article

    Marshalls increases take-up of voluntary benefits scheme

    2010-09-07T23:00:00Z

    Since landscaping firm Marshalls launched a voluntary benefits scheme in April, the majority of its 2,400 employees have taken advantage of the offering.The scheme harmonised benefits such as cycle-to-work, childcare vouchers and discounts under one banner. The offerings are divided between four core areas: health, leisure, motoring and retail.Staff can ...

  • Article

    Towers Watson acquires Swedish benefits consultancy

    2010-09-07T23:00:00Z

    Towers Watson has acquired HRS, a Swedish-based consultancy specialising in executive compensation and employee rewards.Primarily operating in the Nordic market, HRS’s full set of offerings includes: executive compensation, incentive design and employee pay; pension design and global coordination; and performance management and compensation benchmarking.Babloo Ramamurthy, regional manager, EMEA for Towers ...

  • Article

    Shilling Communication launches online pensions directory

    2010-09-07T09:34:13Z

    Shilling Communication has launched an online pensions directory which provides the public with access to a catalogue of UK organisations’ pension websites.The website is available to current and deferred members, retirees, families and dependants to find their organisation’s pension schemes, where the organisations have put their schemes online.Kevin Shilling, CEO ...

  • Article

    B&Q to offer environmental scheme for 30,000 staff

    2010-09-06T09:25:52Z

    B&Q is to help its 30,000 employees reduce their energy bills and their carbon footprint with a programme of eco-incentives that could save up to an estimated £4.2 million and over 19 million kg of carbon dioxide.Over the next three months, all 30,000 employees will be able to take up ...

  • Article

    Premier Farnell introduces attendance management tool

    2010-09-03T09:11:04Z

    Premier Farnell has launched a time and attendance management tool to manage the sickness absence of the 350 employees based in its Leeds distribution centre.The implementation of the system, provided by Kronos, will allow employees to better manage their time and enable the electronic components distributor to increase payroll accuracy ...