Chairman's welcome

Welcome to the 2024 edition of our annual newsletter. We’ve given the newsletter a fresh new design so that you can find the information that interests you more easily. Do please let us have any feedback so that we can continue to provide you with the news you want to see.

The Trustee Board saw some changes during the year with Steve Jones stepping down and Stuart Hedley coming back on to the Board. Jane Stockwell also left the Board during the year and will be replaced by Jeremy Bragg. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Trustee Directors for their commitment and welcome our new Trustees to the Board.

The long-term security of the pension promises that have been made to you by the Fund is of paramount importance and focus for us as a Board. Much of the work we do in monitoring funding, reviewing our asset strategy, reviewing our cyber and other risks, and taking extra steps to protect you from potential scams, is all in support of this security goal. You’ll see that our funding level has continued to improve, reaching 115% at our last formal valuation as at 31 March 2023. Look in the Fund Facts & Figures section for more detail on funding and membership.

The importance of efficient administration and good data is often overlooked but these areas are also vital to the strong funding and security of the Fund, and underpins all our services to you as members. Our administration team has an ongoing programme of updating member records to ensure they are kept as accurate and up to date as possible. You can help us with this by logging into your website account and checking through your details and updating anything that has changed.

You’ll see from this newsletter that we’ve been as busy as ever. The Trustee Board continues to be hard working and committed and is ably supported by our excellent pension executive and pension team. I’d like to thank the Board and the team for their dedication as well as the Company for its own ongoing support.