Scheme closures

The trustees at publishing company Newsquest are facing accusations of irresponsible investment after the firm told employees it was planning to close its final salary scheme to existing members.

Northern Foods will contribute a "proportion" of the £6.4m sale of loss-making frozen food products manufacturer Dalepak to Irish Food Processors Group to help fund its £146.4m scheme deficit.

The £16bn Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund's IAS19 deficit rocketed to more than £4bn in the first half of 2010.

Premier Foods aims to close its defined benefit pension schemes to new members by April, next year in a bid to tackle a £431m combined deficit.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey will close the £567m George Wimpey Staff Pension Scheme to future accrual on 31 August, this year.

The BBC is set to close its final salary scheme to new members after its deficit surged to £2bn.

Electronics retail group DSG International suffered a £114.7m slump in its funding position last year, final results show.

Almost every defined benefit plan in the UK has plans to reduce or axe current provisions in the future, a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey reveals.

UK - Almost every defined benefit plan in the UK has plans to reduce or axe current provisions in the future, a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey revealed.

Nationalised bank Northern Rock has confirmed it will close its final salary scheme to future accruals as part of a cost-cutting exercise.