Mercer Human Resource Consulting has been appointed actuary, administrator, investment and communication consultant to the Sara Lee UK Pension Plan.
A new defined benefit scheme is being set up to incorporate the existing five UK pension schemes operated by Sara Lee. The combined plan will have 18,000 members and a fund size of 600m.
Alan Brown, Chairman of the Trustees, said: “As a leading employer in the UK and internationally, Sara Lee is keen to offer competitive employee benefits on a country-by-country basis. There was a need to harmonise pension provision in the UK, and to realise economies of scale at the same time. In asking Mercer to design a new pension plan, Sara Lee specified that this should also be a final salary scheme, and re-affirmed its commitment to providing leading-edge benefits to employees and pensioners in so doing.
“With Mercer’s help, we have achieved major changes in our UK-wide approach to pension provision, we have appointed a single Trustee body covering all of our UK operating companies, and have arrangements in hand to review investment strategy and streamline pensions administration arrangements. On a personal note, I look forward very much to the challenges and opportunities that this change offers.”