Janet Cooper, Charles Counsell, and Steve Webb are among those in the employee benefits and pensions industry to be recognised in the New Year Honours List 2017.
Janet Cooper (pictured), partner at law firm Tapestry, was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to equality, women’s empowerment and employee share ownership.
Cooper is co-founder of the Global Equity Organisation and the Share Schemes Advanced Studies Group, a founder of Proshare, and also developed a professional training course, the ICSA certificate in employee share plans.
Cooper is also an advocate for equality in the workplace, promoting agile working for all staff, and sitting on the UK board of UN Women for six years, as well as holding the role of vice president for three years.
Steve Webb, a former Liberal Democrat MP for Thornbury and Yate, and pensions minister between 2010 and 2015, was awarded a knighthood on the recommendation of the Parliamentary and Political Service Committee.
Charles Counsell, executive director of automatic enrolment at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) was awarded an OBE for his services to workplace pension reform.
Counsell worked closely with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure that UK employers meet their pension duties, overseeing a campaign to educate employers through direct communications, online tools and information, and a dedicated contact centre.
Counsell said: “I am delighted to receive this award which recognises the commitment and expertise of my colleagues to ensure that automatic enrolment successfully meets the challenge of creating a new and robust culture of saving in the UK.
“Automatic enrolment has reversed a worrying trend of under-saving for retirement amongst [employees], and I am proud that we have played a role in educating employers that putting staff into a pension is now the social norm.”
