High street chain Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced a new plan to manage its £704 million pension scheme deficit.
The deficit will be significantly reduced by a £500 million contribution coming from "an interest in a property-backed partnership" while the remainder of the deficit is expected to be met by investment returns on the pension scheme's assets.
According to the company, the plan will allow M&S to make a "substantial contribution to the pension scheme…while ensuring that the chain's cashflow obligations to the scheme are spread over a manageable period."
Finance director at the chain, Ian Dyson, said: "We know staff in our final salary scheme value this benefit very highly which is why we want to keep the scheme open."
He added: "By using our valuable property portfolio we have been able to put the scheme on a safer footing and we have also put together a range of options which we're now discussing with employees to give them choices about how they want to grow their pension in the future."
There are currently 123,000 members on the M&S pension scheme, including 26,000 current employees.
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