Pensions World

The first employers have joined our scheme, says Tim Jones, Nest

Almost 100 employers have so far signed up to use Nest ahead of the introduction of employer duties in 2012.

Videos of the early experiences of three firms – F2 Chemicals based in Preston, Metal Assemblies, based in West Bromwich, and Positive Support in Tees CIC, based in Hartlepool – can be viewed at www.youtube.com/user/nestpension. Some of the larger employers also considering using Nest include Gondola Group (which includes companies such as Pizza Express), Sodexo, Spirit Pub Company and Travelodge. Many of the employers we showcased at Nest Live are joining Nest and getting ready for auto-enrolment well ahead of their staging dates, which is incredibly encouraging.

Others are getting their plans in place ready for auto-enrolment and using Nest as part of their solution alongside other schemes – that is exactly the role Nest is here to play.

The feedback we have received to date has been very good. Employers tell us that they like our fresh approach to important issues such as communication and investment, and they particularly like how easy Nest is to use.

Feathering the Nest

We at Nest Corporation are also one of the employers offering membership of Nest to employees, together with a private top up group personal pension scheme, provided by Aviva.

As well as being given the opportunity to pay into Nest from later this year, permanent members of staff will be offered a top up scheme, provided by Aviva, for contributions over Nest’s annual contribution limit of £4,200 (in 2011 terms).

Total employer and employee contributions to Nest Corporation’s arrangements will amount to 13% of basic salary.

We are choosing to use Nest in conjunction with a top up scheme for our staff because we wanted to be a part of the high quality, low cost scheme we are working to deliver.

We expect many medium sized and larger employers to use Nest alongside another pension scheme in this way and urge employers that have not yet considered how they will respond to their new employer duties to find out when the duties will impact their business and start considering their options.

Looking ahead

Now we have shared what we have done so far, we need to look to the future. We are learning from our customers and potential customers in real time and improving our product.

For example, a couple of larger employers told us they paid fortnightly and we were originally set up to be paid monthly and weekly. They want to be able to use Nest, so they need to be able to continue running their payroll processes. So, we are creating a functionality that allows them to pay into Nest every two weeks.

The onset of employer duties this year represents a huge change to the UK pension landscape. We are committed to making things better for members and easier for employers.

We are not a payroll provider nor an employee benefits platform and we do not intend to step on the toes of firms providing those sorts of services.

We have made sure that our processes are straightforward, while being flexible to meet the needs of employers of any size. We have also made sure that Nest will work seamlessly with third parties if employers want to use other services and pension provision.

We are designed for 2012 and we have been thinking about how auto-enrolment will work in practice from the word go. In practice, this means things like designing an opt out process that allows members to opt out direct with the scheme online or by phone, permitting them to stop contributions directly, online, through the scheme.

Between now and the onset of employer duties in October and beyond, we will continue to develop Nest so it works correctly for as many employers as want to use it to meet their new duties when the time comes.