The Wolseley Group is a well-known name among builders, plumbers and other trade professions. The organisation, which employs around 5,200 people across 600 branches, is a one-stop shop, whether the project is a quick plumbing fix or all the infrastructure needed to build a new development.
The legacy of the organisation’s historic defined benefit (DB) pension provision lingers in its still-paternalistic approach to pensions, as Ant Donaldson, reward manager, explains.
When Donaldson joined Wolseley in early 2021, one of the first conversations he had with the organisation’s then-chief financial officer was prompted by the Pensions Regulator’s focus on good outcomes for members.
“We asked ourselves, are we doing the best for our people? How can we ensure that the [defined contribution] scheme is going to deliver good outcomes?” says Donaldson.
This question led to some bold decisions, including the scheme’s move to a master trust, provided by Aon, after a competitive selection process.
This same focus on outcomes underpins the organisation’s generous auto-enrolment contribution structure. It starts at 3% from the employee and 5% from the employer. Wolseley’s employees can contribute up to 9%, with the company matching this level, Donaldson explains.
Wolseley also auto-enrols everybody, irrespective of age and earnings, instead of purely complying with the regulations. Again, going above and beyond the regulatory minimums, Wolseley bases contributions on people’s full salaries, rather than band earnings.
“As well as standing out in our industry, fundamentally, we want people to have a benefit that’s worthwhile and actually help them to retire at the right time, in dignity,” Donaldson explains.
Looking to the future, Donaldson is paying close attention to the pensions industry’s dialogue around default retirement options. “For many people, this is where I encounter stress around pensions. When they come up to retirement, they understand the choices that a DC scheme gives them, and then they understand there are no easy answers to those choices.
“What’s the right thing to do? Understandably, that really worries a lot of people. And I think having a default solution that gives what people think schemes do anyway, an income for life in line with inflation, I think that’d be a huge step forward.”
