As an employer, providing an adequate pension scheme for your employees is every bit a moral obligation as it is a legal requirement - and getting it right provides the opportunity to attract the best staff and promote substantial goodwill within your business.

However, there is a baffling choice of potential schemes available, which will be increased further by the Government’s introduction of The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) Pension Scheme. NEST will no doubt prove to be a suitable retirement plan for some, but it is unlikely to provide a ‘one size fits all’ solution, as business and individuals have such varying and bespoke requirements.

That said, The Pensions Act 2008 has introduced new duties on employers to provide a pension scheme for most workers, so the issue of pension provision cannot simply be ignored.

At Francis Clark we are retirement planning specialists able to guide you through the options available, your responsibilities, and the complex legislation and tax rules that govern pensions. We’re happy to deal with individuals and companies alike.  Please contact us now if you would like to speak to one of our experienced independent financial advisors about this service.

The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) Pension Scheme

The Government is introducing NEST to encourage people to save for retirement. It is intended to be an easy way for employers to offer a workplace pension scheme, and for employees to build up a retirement fund at low cost. However, it is not the only option available.

The NEST pension will see workers automatically enrolled into the scheme over a set period. The largest firms in the UK to adopt NEST will start enrolment from the 1st October 2012, with auto-enrolment phased-in so that all firms choosing NEST as their workplace pension will have commenced auto-enrolment by 1st September 2016.

Once enrolled both the employer and workers must contribute a minimum amount into the scheme.  Further information on the NEST pension scheme is available in the document ‘Francis Clark Guide to NEST’ available in PDF format to the left of this page. We also have a section dedicated to NEST in our knowledgebank.