John Lewis Partnership Trust for Pensions appoints new trustee chair
Friday 31 July 2020
The John Lewis Partnership Trust for Pensions has appointed Sarah Bates as Chair of the Trustee from 1 August 2020 and replaces Dame Jane Newell, who has stepped down after being Chair since 2013.
Sarah joins with over 35 years of experience in investment management, which includes specialist expertise in pensions through roles as a Committee member, Trustee and Chair. She has chaired several organisations in the investment and savings sector and is currently an independent member of the Investment Committees of the BBC Pension Scheme and the Universities Superannuation Scheme and was previously Chair of the Pension Fund Investment Committee for Cancer Research UK and Chair of Trustees for the Stena Line (UK) Pension Scheme. She is also a co-founder of the Diversity Project and Chair of the Diversity Project charity.
Sarah’s three year term begins next month and she sits alongside eight other Trustees - four of whom are Partners who were democratically elected by the Partnership’s unique governing authority, Partnership Council - and four others who were appointed by the Partnership Board and are a mix of external Trustees and senior Partners in the Partnership. Each Trustee has a legal responsibility to act in the best financial interests of the members of the pension scheme.
The John Lewis Partnership Trust for Pensions was established in 1942 and is independent of the John Lewis Partnership and a separate legal trust. Membership to the pension scheme is available to all Partners working for the John Lewis Partnership and Partners have access to the Defined Contribution section. The Partnership matches contributions into the scheme of up to 8% of pay and provides an additional 4% after three years’ service, regardless of whether a Partner decides to pay in or not.
Following a year-long review and consultation with Partners, the Defined Benefit section of the pension scheme was closed on 31 March 2020 and the Trustees are also responsible for its legacy.
Sarah Bates said: “I am very pleased to be appointed as Chair of the John Lewis Partnership Trust for Pensions and look forward to working with the John Lewis Partnership to continue to develop the pension scheme for the coming years.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the John Lewis Partnership
The John Lewis Partnership owns and operates two of Britain's best-loved retail brands - John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners. Started as a radical idea nearly a century ago, the Partnership is the largest employee-owned business in the UK and amongst the largest in the world, with over 80,000 employees who are all Partners in the business. For all intents and purposes, the Partnership is a social enterprise; the profits made are reinvested into the business - for customers and Partners. John Lewis & Partners operates 50 shops plus one outlet across the UK as well as johnlewis.com. Waitrose & Partners has 337 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 61 convenience branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations. Waitrose & Partners exports products to more than 50 countries worldwide and has nine shops which operate under licence in the Middle East. The retailer's omnichannel business includes the online grocery service, Waitrose.com, as well as specialist online shops including waitrosecellar.com for wine and waitroseflorist.com for plants and flowers.