HS Trustees managing director Bobby Riddaway
Novell Tullett – a Bristol-based firm of landscape architects – has appointed HS Trustees to be sole trustee on a scheme that has been attempting to wind-up for over ten years.
The appointment is HS Trustees second sole trustee appointment. HS Trustees managing director Bobby Riddaway has taken on the role of chair, supported by Bob Bryant.
HS Trustees said the complexities of the scheme's benefit structure mean that, even with only two deferred members, the wind-up is "anything but trivial". Also, it said, as the scheme is extremely small, under £100,000 in value, and invested in with-profits, the investment side of the scheme is also non-trivial so specialist knowledge is required to achieve the desired outcome.
Riddaway said it was important at the outset to find a flexible legal adviser so that "we could come to some potential solutions" before being appointed to the scheme – adding it was also going to be important to find other partners who are just as flexible and pragmatic in order to stand a good chance of winding the scheme up in a reasonable amount of time.
He commented that finding a solution for this scheme – one of what he said were many micro schemes with non-trivial issues to solve – was not likely to be a repeatable economic model.
Despite this, he said the solution will be shared with the industry to enable other similar problems to be solved – adding there were many issues for small schemes on the defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) side that would be most economically solved through industry solutions and collaboration as the commercial terms of working on a tiny scheme "make normal consulting, trustee and legal arrangements unaffordable".
Novell Tullett director Jane Fowles said: "I am so relieved that HS Trustees and Temple Bright are finally getting to grips with the intractable problem of closing our company pension scheme. It is a relief to hand this over to people who really know what they are talking about and can put a timeframe on ultimate closure."
HS Trustees chief executive Steve Goddard added: "This is our fifth scheme – our second since Bobby joined – and continues growth that started in 2023 with one scheme.
"It also shows our ability to cope with unique scheme circumstances – being the second scheme that needed innovative thinking. This time it was the economic model. Our first sole trustee client in 2024 needed innovative thinking on the sponsor side."
Goddard continued: "We see every scheme as unique and our experienced trustees partner with existing trustees, sponsors and advisors to address each scheme's needs. While most schemes don't need innovative solutions, it is telling that 50% of the schemes that we have been appointed to in our short life do!"
