New head for UK Royal Mail pension fund

Royal Mail has appointed a new chairman of its pension fund, currently facing a Pounds 2.5bn deficit. Jane Newell, a non-executive director of United Utilities and chairman of three other pension schemes, will lead the fund’s trustees as they try to solve its financial problems. Royal Mail’s pension hole is the result of the fall in the stock market in the late 1990s and the 13-year contributions “holiday” enjoyed by the group on actuarial advice. Actuaries discovered the deficit in March last year and Royal Mail faces payments of as much as Pounds 800m a year to keep the fund going. Ms Newell replaces Roy Chapman, chairman for the past 10 years, who is retiring at the end of the year. Royal Mail said the change had been planned for some time and was not linked to concerns over the size of the deficit.