Fishburn Hedges

30.09.2010

Today we announced the launch of our pensions advisory unit, a specialist team with deep expertise in the complex area of communications around pensions.

The unit benefits from many years of experience working with clients as diverse as the Pension Protection Fund, Lane Clark & Peacock, Legal & General and The Reader’s Digest Association and from the backgrounds of its members in banking, journalism and the world of policy making. It will offer advice in all areas of communications, from media relations to consumer facing statements, from discussions with regulators to employee engagement and digital communications.

The team will be headed by Fishburn Hedges director, Andy Berry, and includes our chairman Neil Hedges, Jason Nisse, head of emergency relations, Nick Wright, employee engagement director, and Dermot Finch, our recently-arrived head of public affairs, whose experience from his days at HM Treasury will be invaluable.  

Said Andy Berry: “This is the right time for Fishburn Hedges to draw upon the many years of experience we collectively have advising clients in the pensions arena. Pensions are now right at the top of the corporate agenda and very much a front of paper issue.  The issue of how to fund retirement is coming to dominate debate in all areas of business, politics and society, and we will help clients navigate through this complex area.”

Earlier this year we advised The Readers’ Digest Association on the restructuring of its UK pension fund, one of the most high profile cases of its kind, as the rejection of the restructuring plan by The Pensions Regulator led to the UK operation of Reader’s Digest being placed in administration.

Andy Berry added: “The Reader’s Digest case was a classic example of how pensions issues can become make or break for companies, directly affecting employees, customers, suppliers and creditors alike. It also highlights how what might appear to be a small issue within a single subsidiary can potentially threaten global brands and attract huge media interest.”

Read our list of ten things you didn't know about pensions.