As a fast-growing technology organisation digital vehicle insurance provider Cuvva attracts a lot of early and mid-career professionals. Around 60% of its 100-strong workforce are aged 35 or younger, making it all the more important to have pensions working for that demographic.
Alex Gordon Perkins, head of people, says: “There’s definitely a sense that retirement can feel like a distant priority for many of our team, especially when they’re more focused on short-term financial goals like rent, savings, or travel. That said, we’ve seen that once pensions are explained clearly, especially the benefits like tax savings and employer contributions, attitudes shift quite quickly. People just need it framed in a way that makes sense to them now, not 40 years from now.”
The organisation offers a group personal pension (GPP) scheme, provided by Penfold, which includes the option for employees to use salary sacrifice for additional tax savings. Membership is strong; nearly all eligible employees are enrolled, and engagement has increased since switching providers.
“The Penfold team came into the office to run sessions that broke down the basics of pensions in a really human way,” explains Gordon Perkins. “They used relatable examples, avoided jargon, and explained how small changes now can make a big difference later. We also leaned on its app and calculator tool and that visual element really helped people connect with their pension as something real and useful, not just a mysterious payslip deduction. Many team members have chosen to increase their contributions voluntarily, which wasn’t something we saw before.”
At Cuvva, pensions are an active part of its benefits communication, with regular updates and reminders shared through Slack and email, and sessions during onboarding and throughout the year.
Gordon Perkins says the biggest change they’ve seen is in staff confidence. “Before, pensions felt abstract and complicated. Now, we get feedback like ‘this finally makes sense’ or ‘I didn’t realise how easy it was to manage my contributions’. It’s helped pensions go from something people ignore, to something they actively think about, which is a huge win in our book.”
Alison Coleman has been a freelance journalist for 30 years, writing for national and international publications.
She covers a broad range of business topics, including finance, leadership and management, HR and recruitment.View full profile
