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M&A activity can present businesses with unique challenges in the consolidation and management of pension and benefits schemes.
Wren Sterling works closely with businesses that have made acquisitions to simplify their administration and set them on the road to harmonisation and de-risking the employee benefits aspect of their business.
We typically act as a consultant to help you understand the scale of your challenge and the opportunities that can be unlocked through consolidation and simplification. We've got project management resources, so we can be as hands on as you need us to be.
Typically, we will start with a pension scheme audit and present our findings and recommendations to you, which includes suggested next steps for bringing your schemes together.
We’ll support you through the project, liaising with your chosen scheme provider on your behalf and helping you to manage its implementation and communication to affected employees.
We’re also available to support you with ongoing scheme governance. This is an important regulatory duty, and we help trustees across the UK to discharge their duties.
Wren Sterling supports companies who have multiple businesses to integrate and each of those comes with a different pension scheme, which requires monthly administration and governance. What’s more, the acquirer has no control over the employer contribution levels, or the costs and charges of the scheme, which can vary considerably.
By going to market for a new scheme and merging acquired businesses into it, companies can bring pension schemes together, reduce their administration and often secure better terms than previously, as there are more employees in the scheme.
This principle also applies to the wider benefits across the acquisitions too, if required. A good example of this is private medical insurance (PMI). A small business may be disadvantaged and not able to offer as comprehensive cover as a larger business. By consolidating, you may be able to secure more favourable terms and better underwriting for members.
When the new schemes are in place, it provides a framework for future acquisitions, simplifying the onboarding of employees and their benefits and quickly embedding them into the same structure.
We have deep knowledge of UK pension legislation, and we regularly work with organisations based overseas that have a UK entity. This protects their interests and ensures the right outcomes for members of those schemes in the UK.
Pensions rules and regulations can be complex, so we can recommend a single workplace pension scheme for your business.
Group Risk benefits can be consolidated and preferential terms secured, providing a valuable safety net for employees.
Salary exchange in a consolidation context can unlock a lot of value for organisations and increase the range of benefits available to their employees.
Workplace healthcare can give employees and their families peace of mind that their medical needs are being supported.
If you’re creating a single strategy, you should understand what your employees need from their Employee Benefits.
Give your company’s employees the freedom to choose the benefits they will value most.
Minimise your liabilities and protect your business against uncertainty and the impact of losing key employees.
We've experienced a real spike in demand for our services from the PE industry in recent years. Building through acquisition is an exciting growth story for everyone involved but it can leave a patchwork quilt of workplace pension schemes and benefits to manage. It can also create huge disparity in the same organisation, so we work alongside HR Directors and consultants to implement single schemes, going to market to secure the best prices and staying on hand to support future acquisition and integration projects.
Sarah Herd,
businesses as clients
employees supported
workplace schemes advised on
Workplace pensions, Statutory Sick pay, Holiday pay, Maternity/paternity leave must be provided by law. However, there are other additional benefits which are optional. However, companies wanting to compete for talented individuals should consider whether their competitors are offering.
Your workplace pension scheme is a central piece in your long-term HR strategy, so it needs to be set up and managed accordingly. It can be a complicated space though, with many rules and regulations, so it pays to work with an expert. We can audit your current workplace pension scheme, assist in scheme selection, and support your Pension Scheme Governance.
We can review and help you enhance your benefits, ensuring your people truly value the rewards you provide – such as your workplace pension, group risk policies, salary exchange, ultimately saving you and your people cash. As your business financial adviser, we can support you with:
If you’re an employer and provide expenses or benefits to employees or directors, you might need to tell HMRC and pay tax and National Insurance on them. Find out more at gov.uk.
Looking to reward your senior executives? When you offer competitive salaries and benefits to your executives it can introduce tax planning issues, if it isn’t managed proactively by an expert financial adviser. Wren Sterling overcomes this by pairing corporate advisers with private client advisers, ensuring you get the maximum benefit from your investment in our relationship. Our holistic personal financial advice that covers everything from their pension arrangements to wealth planning to protection.
