On the go: John Lewis Partnership and the trustees of its pension scheme have agreed to a six-year deficit recovery plan.
According to an announcement on Tuesday, this agreement is the result of the triennial valuation of the John Lewis Partnership Pension Scheme, which had a deficit of £58m at March 31 2019.
The sponsor and the trustees agreed a six-year plan to eliminate the deficit with annual cash contributions of £10m, with the first payment due in May 2020, John Lewis stated.
At the previous valuation, at March 31 2016, the scheme had a deficit of £479m. The shortfall reduction is due to a number of factors, including contributions of more than £250m towards the deficit, and the closure of the defined benefit section of the scheme to future accrual in April 2020, it said.
This decision, announced by the retailer in 2019, will save approximately £80m annually, according to John Lewis Partnership’s latest annual report.
Since the closure of the DB section, members have access to an improved defined contribution section of the scheme, with matching contributions of up to 8 per cent of pay and an additional 4 per cent after three years’ service, regardless of whether the individual pays into the scheme or not.
