Reader's Digest book could be closed after 70 years
In yet another reflection of the ever-growing pension funding problem in the UK, the British arm of Reader's Digest is seething on the verge of collapse with a £125 million pension fund deficit seemingly to blame. The American parent company Reader's Digest Association recently filed for bankruptcy protection in America and has been in discussions with the British Pensions Regulator for some time. However, after seemingly brokering a deal which would save the British arm of Reader's Digest it looks as though the deal is unravelling this evening.
The company had proposed to inject £10.9 million into the company pension scheme and transfer 33.33% of the equity of the UK business to the pension scheme. The idea was that the scheme would then be transferred to the Pension Protection Fund which would protect the pension payments of all members. However, the Pensions Regulator has different ideas and has rejected the deal with little hope of further movement from the American parent company in the short-term.
Unless a last-minute deal can be reached it seems that the British arm of Reader's Digest could be placed into administration purely and simply because of the pension fund deficit. An operation which has been around for over 70 years could well be coming to a premature close over the next few days.
Share this..
Related stories
Bankruptcy among pensioners sharply rises
01/09/2014 Pensioners in Britain are now more likely to go bankrupt than they were at the height of the recession, even though overall bankruptcy figures have gone down. Due to rising costs and low incomes, accountancy firm Moore Stephens have found that 5,672 pensioners went bankrupt in 2013, up from 4,727 at the height of the recession. There has been a 25% fall in the overall number o...
Read MoreBT pension deficit concerns investors
Despite profits surging ahead at British Telecom the company's share price took a significant hit this morning on news of a £9 billion deficit in the company's pension scheme. The deficit was calculated at the end of 2008 and while it will have changed slightly over the last 12 months it is still causing massive problem for the company and the pension trustees. So what is BT proposing? British...
Read MoreCampaigners hail new pension scheme
A new pension rescue package has been welcomed by campaigners across the UK.As many as 140,000 workers are set to benefit from the new £2.9 billion rescue scheme that has been put together by work and pensions secretary Peter Hain to help those who have lost out after their companies went bust.Under the terms of Mr Hain's plan, 90 per cent of the value of those pensions will be restored, bringing...
Read MoreRetirement saving hits high but savers expecting more
24/06/2015 Retirement saving in the UK has hit its highest ever level, with 56% of people now saving an adequate amount. A report from Scottish Widows showed that people are saving outside their pension on average £142 towards their retirement, which is an 8% increase from last year. The average proportion of earnings being save each month has now hit 12%, compared to only 6% in 2006, and...
Read MorePension gap between men and women continues to grow
It has been revealed that the pension gap between men and women continues to grow with the average male retiring in 2010 likely to receive a pension income in the region of £19,593 a year against just £12,169 for a woman retiring at the same time. The gap between the two has increased by £782 over the last 12 months and while much of the gap can be credited to various career breaks many women h...
Read More