Philip has over 16 years experience advising corporate sponsors, trustees and others on a wide range of issues relating to UK pension plans. He regularly helps clients to establish, change or close their pension plans as well as assisting on a wide range of compliance and day-to-day advisory issues. Philip is recognised as a national expert on matters relating to the treatment of pension plans following corporate failure and has advised plan trustees or insolvency practitioners in a number of high profile cases. He also advises on project based work relating to pension plans including the pension aspects of corporate sales, purchases and restructuring, plan mergers and demergers and risk management strategies such as enhanced transfer value projects and pensioner buy-ins and buy-outs.

Philip is well regarded by his clients who comment that he helps to “achieve the best of the possible outcomes in very difficult circumstances” and is also a regular speaker at a wide variety of industry conferences.

Philip also runs the firm’s highly successful professional trustee business, which currently provides trustee services to over 70 pension plans. Philip himself acts as trustee to 10 plans of various types and sizes including acting as trustee chairman for the pension plans of a household name national retailer.

Philip is a full member of the Association of Pension Lawyers.

Representative Experience

• Acting for a household name scheme pursuing a “financial support direction” from the Pensions Regulator against the former private equity owners of their sponsoring employer. The case concluded with an out-of-court settlement favourable to Philip’s client.
• Acting for the liquidators of a major automotive sector company on a dispute relating the proper treatment of the £475,000,000 deficit in the company’s pension plan.
• Acting for a multi-site and unionised corporate sponsor in relation to the successful closure of its defined benefit plan.
• Acting for a multi-national engineering corporate on the pension aspects of a contentious refinancing and security package requiring clearance from the Pensions Regulator