CASE STUDIES

Pension Protection Fund

CLIENTS

Pension Protection Fund

Job

Providing strategic counsel while fielding enquiries from hundreds of journalists during unprecedented scrutiny following crises.

The PPF is the industry safety net for defined benefit pension schemes, providing payment for scheme members where an employer has failed. Workplace pensions are very valuable but complex and poorly understood - and rarely front page news. In 2016/17 defined benefit pensions have faced unparalleled scrutiny with the fates of Tata Steel and BHS high on the agenda. The intense media speculation around the BHS administration and previous owner Sir Philip Green resulted in an unprecedented jump in coverage and media speculation causing a crises.

BHS was the biggest most well known story in the UK from the end of March through to the beginning of July, according to populous. From the middle of July to the middle of December it remained in the top five biggest stories.

There were almost 3,500 pieces of coverage on the BHS story that mentioned PPF. Over 300 journalists have engaged with us around these stories, including marked growth in broadcast interest and 'out of hours' engagement; considering what a sustained crisis means for the tempo of media engagement has been part of our successful response.

We have protected the reputation of the pension lifeboat and put it in a strong position for what it may face in the future.