Exclusive interview with Andy Beswick on SMEs and pension enrolment

UK Construction Online talk with Andy Beswick, Managing Director or Business Solutions at Aviva – which helps SMEs set up their workplace pensions.

Andy Beswick talks to us about the importance of making sure construction SMEs are aware of auto enrolment legislation and why a workplace pension can be a really valuable benefit to building firms. With 480,000 businesses setting up workplace pensions this year, and 1.8 million by the end of 2017, the process for small construction businesses may seem daunting.

Could you tell me a little bit about what you do?

I am the Manager Director of part of our business called Business Solutions. I make sure that particularly in pensions, that what we build and come up with is suitable and helpful for small businesses and medium sized businesses in the UK. A key part of that right now is helping making sure they can get through the auto enrolment obligations.

With auto enrolment already happening, what advice would you give to people going through AE?

There are three things I would say.

1. Where you can, plan; the earlier you start to think about it, the better.
2. Make sure you choose a provider that can grow with you and your business if your circumstances change
3. If you think you are going to need a business advisor, ask for help from someone who you talk with regularly, such as your accountant/financial advisor.

For the small and medium businesses that don’t feel ready – what advice to you have for them?

I think it’s a positive thing – lots of the press around auto enrolment is about how difficult it is and how much hassle is it and there is no doubt that it is complex for small businesses. There are two fundamental choices – -if they want to do it themselves there is lots of good information and guides  online that can take them step by step through the process. If however they say we don’t want to do it ourselves, we want to use a business advisor, talk to them early. Your accountant, your book keeper, your financial advisor are all well placed to help small businesses through the process.

Do you think the government is doing enough to help SME’s through the process?

I think you can’t ignore the work place pensions. It’s on the TV and on the radio, they are clearly doing loads of work but there is no doubt that on the small employer part of the market, levels of awareness still need to be higher. The government have got a role to play in that, we as providers have a role to play in that, but also employers will talk to the trade federations and people they trust like the chamber of commerce.

In terms of construction workers being moving into umbrella companies to avoid having to be placed into a work place pension, how much of a problem do you think this is?

If you look at what the federation of small businesses say, 20% of all the companies we have got between now and the end of the auto enrolment project, will be associated with the construction industry so it’s a really big part of what is going to happen over the next couple of years.

I think if employers are encouraging people to move umbrella companies to avoid AE, I think it’s really disappointing. AE can be a very positive thing for a company, for example, if there is a skills shortage, often a work place pension is a great way to attract good quality people, and I think to avoid is what is undoubtedly something that would benefit employers and employees in the long term is disappointing.

Why are some people feeling negative about the move into work place pensions?

The fear of complexity is an issue. People are daunted and worry that they don’t understand what needs to be done. The complexity of the process is a concern for SMEs. It’s about finding a simple and efficient way, where people can understand where to get a quote from. That would take the hassle out of the purchasing process. The pensions industry is trying to make the process as smooth and as simple as possible. Undoubtedly, there is the issue of additional costs to employers. I think it’s important that companies take into context that it is a good way to help hold onto staff and consider the benefits it has to motivate workers. At the end of the day, for an individual construction worker, having a pension will give them a better chance of a decent retirement. I think it’s important to see the pensions in a positive light.

 

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