Expertise

Alison is a Partner  in our Pensions & Employee Benefits team and advises on a wide variety of pensions matters to a broad spectrum of clients including trustee boards, independent trustees, sponsoring employers and individual scheme members.

The schemes Alison advises on range from Small Self-Administered Schemes to multi-employer Schemes with assets in excess of £300m.

A number of these clients are Trustee boards of pension schemes with charitable or not-for-profit sponsoring employers. These schemes often face different funding pressures and covenant issues to schemes with corporate sponsoring employers.

Recent Experience

• Advising on the pensions implications arising from the restructuring of a European group of companies, involving a flexible apportionment arrangement.
• Advising on the substitution of an English Principal Employer with a French Principal Employer which required collaboration with French avocats and financial covenant advice and the subsequent merger of the group’s two final salary schemes.
• Advising the Trustees of a 140-year old charity on the closure of its scheme to new members and future accrual of benefits.
• Advising the Trustees of a final salary scheme following a request from the sponsoring employer to amend its Rules relating to distribution of surplus to facilitate payment to the sponsoring employer.

Career History

Alison studied law at Southampton University and the College of Law in Guildford. She worked at a leading independent trustee company for over two years, gaining specialist trust experience and taking responsibility for the project management and winding up of several high profile pension schemes.

Alison has specific experience in dealing with schemes entering the Pension Protection Fund and was a key member of the project team which resulted in the MG Rover Group Pension Scheme successfully transferring to the PPF in March 2007.

Alison joined Wedlake Bell as a trainee in 2007 and qualified into the Pensions team in Autumn 2008. She is an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute. Alison has a degree in Law from The University of Southampton.

Alison was involved with organising the APL’s Annual Conference 2012 and is chief organiser for the 2017 Conference.

Publications

“New PPF requirements will cause trustees a real(isable) headache”, Pensions Insight, 3 March 2016.

“Clear, plain English is the key for trustees when tweaking scheme documents“, Engaged Investor, 6 March 2014.

“Schemes still under RPI/CPI cosh from employers“, Pensions Expert, 17 April 2013.