ONLY 9% OF COMPANIES CONTRIBUTE TO STAKEHOLDER PENSIONS - GORDON, SORT IT OUT!

ONLY 9% OF COMPANIES CONTRIBUTE TO STAKEHOLDER PENSIONS - GORDON, SORT IT OUT! 4 April 2003: The Government's stakeholder pension policy is failing many workers because only 9% of employers contribute to them - slashing the potential retirement funds of the majority of the UK's workforce. The Chancellor should consider making employer contributions mandatory in next week's Budget, says accountants and business advisors PKF. The Government gave UK companies a deadline of October 2001 to introduce a stakeholder pension scheme for all employees. By the end of last year, an estimated 10,000 companies* in the UK had still failed to organise a stakeholder pension for their employees, although so far the Government has not penalised any companies with the threatened £50,000 fine. But with less than 1 in 10 employers** contributing to the schemes, employees are getting a raw deal. Frank Williamson, managing director of PKF Financial Planning Ltd, said: "The existing legislation just doesn't go far enough. We have a situation where more than 340,000 companies have a designated stakeholder pension scheme in place to comply with Government legislation, but only 9% are actually contributing anything to them. "The vast majority of schemes are empty boxes - so employees are bearing the full cost of saving for their retirement with no real help from their employers. It's well reported that there is a crisis in saving because a large number of people are failing to put aside a realistic amount to live on when they retire. The Chancellor must address this problem in the Budget on 9 April. The only option, however unpalatable, is to make it compulsory for both employers and employees to contribute to stakeholder pension schemes." *The Association of British Insurers' website states that 340,688 companies (out of an estimated 350,000 companies) had designated stakeholder pension schemes at the end of 2002. For further information go to www.abi.org.uk. **The ABI found that 9% of employers with stakeholder pensions were making contributions (November 2002). - ends - For further information: Melissa Byrne PR Manager 020 7782 9335 Imelda Michalczyk PR Officer 020 7782 9380 Notes to editors: 1. PKF is one of the UK's leading firms of accountants and business advisors and specialises in advising the management of developing private and public businesses. The firm has more than 1,500 partners and staff operating in over 25 offices around the country. Principal services include assurance and advisory; consultancy; corporate finance; corporate recovery and insolvency; forensic; and taxation. The firm has particular expertise in advising sectors such as small and medium sized companies; charities; hotels and leisure; medical; professional partnerships; public sector; and technology. The firm's web site is www.pkf.co.uk. 2. PKF also offers financial services through its FSA authorised company, PKF Financial Planning Limited. 3. PKF is a member of PKF International, which has more 12,800 people operating in over 100 countries around the world. 4. For information and comment on the Budget go to Budget 2003: http://www.pkf.co.uk/budget. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/04/04/20030404BIT00990/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/04/04/20030404BIT00990/wkr0002.pdf