Industry News Archives - Page 5 of 8

4 April 2019

Millennials have a “worrying lack” of awareness as to how pensions work, according to a recent survey.

The majority of those aged between 24 and 34 did not know what happens to pension savings, with over half thinking it is deposited in savings accounts and earning a fixed amount of interest.

The majority of these employees are now actively savings into workplace pensions, via auto-enrolment, so there is a clear need for employers to improve communications, understanding and engagement.

With statutory minimum contributions increasing this month, employees will want to understand more about their pension options than ever before and many will want direct and honest language in communications about their pensions, rather than the usual industry jargon.

At Corinthian Benefits we specialise in improving employee engagement and appreciation of the benefits provided by introducing a comprehensive communications exercise including the following:

Tailored presentations to different age groups
Individual one to one consultations
Personal member booklets outlining the benefits provided
Online access to personal benefit information

Give us a call today and see how we can help you.

25 March 2019

Welplan Pensions has exited the Master Trust market and says it is seeking a buyer for the pensions it holds. They say this decision was made in response to the Pensions Regulator’s new authorisation regime, which they said was “cost-prohibitive” for many smaller and medium-sized trusts. As a result Welplan says it was “no longer viable” to continue to support its master trust scheme over the longer term.

Welplan says the scheme will continue to support its 1,900 participating employers and 55,000 individual members until they can be transitioned to a new provider, the company also says it will be working closely with its trustee board to actively seek another master trust provider to take over this business.

So, there are 2 questions:

How safe is your Workplace Pension Scheme? and
How confident are you that you have the best Workplace Pension Scheme for you and your employees?

At Corinthian Benefits we’ll do all of the hard work for you to make sure you can answer these questions. Even better, you might even save money – most of our clients do when they switch to us!

Why not find out if you can too. Give us a call today and see how we can help you.

22 February 2019

Business travellers with less than 6 months remaining on their passports might face difficulties with a no-deal Brexit:

New rules will apply if the UK leaves the EU with no deal
Official guidance is that people should ensure there are at least six months left on their UK passports from their date of arrival (child and adult)
Passport renewal before 29th March is therefore recommended for all EU business travellers to avoid possible business disruption if a no-deal Brexit occurs, with potentially long application delays otherwise

We hope this reminder is useful – if you require any further information or support please just get in touch.

(Full credit to Cover Magazine www.covermagazine.co.uk for the original content of this bulletin)

13 February 2019

What can employers learn from the world of romance?

As the song goes ‘love is in the air’ – it’s February, the high streets are decked out with Valentine’s day gifts and businesses are being encouraged to ‘love their employees’.

We also often hear the phrase ‘employer / employee relationship’ in HR publications and promotions. It’s true though, having employees is a lot like having a personal relationship so we’ve put together our take on the similarities and what employers can learn from the world of romance.

Here’s three ways being an employer is like being in a relationship:

1. Recruitment is like dating

These days, many people take to the internet to find their next potential partner. But which site do you use? Do you want a short term fling, or a long term relationship? There are so many options.

The same can be said for recruitment – there are a multitude of options available to employers to advertise their jobs – is it a permanent role, a temporary position, or does it require a niche set of skills?

Once your advert is placed, you have to interview your candidates, assess their aptitude with the help of psychometric tests and carry out background screening for the role sometimes too. It’s a lot like going on dates to test whether you’re compatible with your potential new partner!

2. You need to communicate

As anyone who has been in a long term relationship knows, communication is key. Talking to each other, understanding how each other is feeling and adapting your behaviour accordingly is the foundation of a successful relationship.

The same is true between employers and employees – you need regular 1:1’s with staff so you can check in with each other, celebrate successes and share any concerns. The appraisal and performance review process allows for open and honest conversations between managers and employees and a forum to address any concerns before they become relationship-ending.

Sitting alongside the formal performance review process though, you need to take time to check in with how your employees are feeling, provide opportunities for them to give suggestions and ensure they are happy and engaged with work. A simple employee engagement survey tool, lets you know how your employees are feeling, and enables you to take action to ensure they are happy and motivated to stay with you for the long-term.

3. Breaking up is hard

No one starts a relationship wanting it to end – and no-one starts a new job expecting things to go badly.

However, things may change, and you may need to end your employment relationship for a variety of reasons – redundancy or restructuring, performance issues, or the employee might leave for another job elsewhere.

Whatever the reason, and just like in a divorce, it’s best to agree the terms of the breakup. You might have thought ahead and made a pre-nuptial agreement before you marry your partner. Likewise with any employment relationship you should have thought about restrictive covenants in your employment contracts for key employees. It’s always easier to agree these things before the relationship sours.

If your employment relationship hits a rocky patch, you’re not on your own. Just like couples turn to relationship counselling to work through issues, you can turn to specialists too to help with your employment issues.

They can be your matchmaker, helping you find that special someone for your latest vacancy with specialist recruitment and retention services, be your relationship counsellors to help you get the most out of your relationships with your employees, or your legal experts fighting your corner if the relationship breaks down!

So, if you think your employee relationships could do with a bit of TLC this Valentine’s Day, why not get in touch with us and we can introduce you to specialists who can help.

1 February 2019

In July 2017, HMRC announced that all businesses and individuals will have to file their accounting information digitally.

So, from April 2019 it will be mandatory for registered businesses to follow the new VAT submission process (if they’re over the current VAT registration threshold of £85,000). This means:

Digital VAT records must be kept
MTD compatible software must be used to submit VAT returns to HMRC
HMRC online portal will no longer be available for businesses to file returns

If you require any further information or support, please get in touch.

14 January 2019

From April 2019 Workplace Pension scheme minimum contributions are increasing – see our flyer April…it’s not a joke

If you require any further information, please just get in touch.

17 December 2018

Small companies run the risk of losing people to competitors because the benefits they offer are not so attractive.

Companies employing between 50 and 300 staff say attracting talent is a bigger challenge than growing profits or improving workflow.

The only issue that was a bigger concern was the uncertainty over Brexit.

However, research has found that more than half of these firms (55%) say they would value help from consultants on how to attract new staff.

A well-designed benefits package can play a major role in enhancing the value proposition for employees, however SME owners need support in establishing which benefits to provide and ensuring that the employees understand and appreciate them. They also need help in ensuring that these are set up in the most cost-effective manner possible.

Corinthian have helped hundreds of small to medium-sized companies create bespoke company benefits programmes that suit them down to the ground – and we can help you too. As an independent consultancy we get to work with all the major providers of employee benefits. We know their products and get great deals, which in turn means you get the right advice and can usually save you money.

Give us a call today and see how we can help.

17 August 2018

Acquisition designed to grow Just Group’s capability to provide services to trustees of Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes seeking professional advisory services to run bulk member option exercises (scheme exercises) and complements activity of recently launched HUB Pension Solutions.

Just Group plc (Just Group) today announced it has acquired a 75% shareholding in the holding company of Corinthian Pension Consulting Limited (Corinthian Pension Consulting).

Corinthian Pension Consulting specialises in providing professional advisory services to DB pension scheme trustees and scheme sponsors undertaking bulk scheme exercises. The team has been successfully leading major transactions for more than twelve years. The acquisition of Corinthian Pension Consulting adds additional capabilities to the group of businesses trading under HUB brands within Just Group, which focus on delivering corporate solutions to employee benefit consultants, financial advisers, pension schemes, other UK businesses and to their members, customers and clients.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Cooper, chief executive of HUB companies, said:

“This is exciting news for our business. Corinthian Pension Consulting’s depth and breadth of expertise in providing professional advisory services to DB trustees is well recognised and we welcome the expertise and capability they bring to our Group. We will invest to help the management team develop the business and grow awareness of their reputation for outstanding advisory and client services.”

“Our acquisition of Corinthian Pension Consulting complements our recent investment in building our new business HUB Pension Solutions.”

Robert MacGregor, managing director of Corinthian Pension Consulting, commented:

“We’ve been in this market for more than 12 years – in that time we’ve advised over 100,000 members in 70-plus scheme exercises. We’re now seeing unprecedented demand for our services and that’s why we believe becoming part of Just Group makes such good sense.”

“Bulk scheme exercises are challenging from both a technical and advisory perspective – so it’s vital to choose the right business partners if you’re to get the best outcome for trustees and their members. We’ve worked closely with Just Group’s new fintech business, HUB Pension Solutions, and that’s why we’re entirely confident becoming part of the group is a positive move for us and our clients.”

Just Group has acquired a 75% stake in Corinthian Group Limited (being the holding company of Corinthian Pension Consulting) and the remaining 25% will be retained by the existing shareholders. Corinthian Pension Consulting will become an authorised representative of HUB Financial Solutions. Robert MacGregor will continue to lead Corinthian Pension Consulting, as its Chief Executive Officer.

Corinthian Benefits Consulting Limited and Corinthian Affinity Solutions Limited will continue to operate as before, becoming part of a newly formed holding company, Corinthian Group Holdings Limited.

13 July 2018

Despite NEST cutting its net expenditure by nearly £10.5m in the 12 months to the end of March 2018, the government-backed pension scheme was still carrying a black hole of £76.5m.

The amount they owe to the Department for Work & Pensions – by way of a loan – increased from £539m to £623m.

This has raised some interesting questions within the industry in terms of how, and when, they are going to repay to the taxpayer this very substantial amount of money.

11 June 2018

Employer pleads guilty of impersonating staff to opt out of auto-enrolment

Derby-based Workchain Ltd’s (formerly known as Smart Recruitment UK Ltd) owners and directors Phil Tong and Adam Hinkley encouraged five senior staff at the company to get the temporary workers out of the scheme so the company could avoid making pension payments on their behalf.

Financial controller Hannah Armson, HR and compliance officer Lisa Neal and branch managers Martin West, Robert Tomlinson and Andrew Thorpe then worked together to opt workers out of the Nest pension scheme using its online system.

All of the defendants pleaded guilty to the offence when they appeared for the first time at Derby Magistrates’ Court.

Auto-enrolment is not an option, it’s the law. The law is clear – no one can opt a worker out of a pension scheme, even if the worker agrees. Those who try to avoid their pension responsibilities in this way face prosecution.

Our previous article on this news story: Illegal opt-out firm in first regulator prosecution.