TPR secures full benefits for Box Clever pensions members, and concludes long running case against ITV
Ref: PN25-36
All 2,800 members of the Boxclever Group Pension Scheme have transferred to the ITV Pension Scheme following action taken by The Pensions Regulator in one of its longest running cases.
Members who have been receiving benefits at Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levels since 2014, will now receive full scheme benefits and back payments.
TPR has published a regulatory intervention report (RIR) detailing how it pursued ITV for more than 10 years to protect the benefits of thousands of savers.
TPR’s Executive Director of Regulatory Compliance, Gaucho Rasmussen said: “We are pleased to outline the final chapter in this long running case, showing how, if necessary, we will pursue complex cases to protect savers.
“Throughout our investigation we remained open to settlement discussions that would achieve a good outcome for the scheme and were pleased to reach a suitable agreement with ITV in July 2024.
“I encourage everyone with an interest in DB schemes to read the report carefully to understand how we used our Financial Support Direction (FSD) powers to require ITV to put financial support in place for the Boxclever Group Pension Scheme.”
Box Clever was formed in 2000 as a joint venture between the TV rental businesses of Granada (now ITV) and Thorn (now Carmelite). Respective employees were transferred to the new company and enrolled in the Box Clever pension scheme.
TPR opened an anti-avoidance investigation following the collapse of Box Clever in 2011. Prior to the collapse, ITV extracted significant value from the joint venture. Following a lengthy legal battle, TPR issued Financial Support Directions (FSDs) to ITV and associated entities in 2020 requiring them to provide reasonable financial support for the Boxclever Group Pension scheme.
When agreement could not be reached, TPR issued further proceedings in July 2024 seeking a Contribution Notice for the scheme’s full buy-out deficit, which at the time was around £77 million.
Ultimately, TPR was able to agree to a settlement with ITV in July 2024. The bulk transfer of members was completed on 1 October 2025.
TPR has now ceased its regulatory action against ITV and associated entities. This agreement is supported by both the trustees of the Boxclever Group Pension Scheme and the PPF.
Notes for editors
TPR issued a press release in July 2024 about it agreeing an in-principle deal with ITV.
In 2011, TPR issued a determination notice outlining why it was reasonable to issue FSDs to five companies that formed part of the ITV Group. Following ITV’s legal challenges through the Upper Tribunal and Court of Appeal, the FSDs were issued in 2020. An FSD requires its target to propose how they will financially support the scheme. For example, the target could assume responsibility for the employer’s liability to the scheme or make a lump sum cash payment into the scheme. If TPR considers that the proposal is reasonable it will issue a notice approving the arrangements.
TPR is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. Our statutory objectives are:
- to protect members’ benefits
- to reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund
- to promote, and to improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes
- to maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment duties
- to minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of an employer (in relation to the exercise of the regulator’s functions under Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004 only)
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is a public corporation, set up by the Pensions Act 2004, and has been protecting members of eligible defined benefit (DB) pension schemes across the UK since 2005. The PPF is run by an independent Board and accountable to Parliament through the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions. It protects close to 9 million members belonging to more than 5,000 pension schemes. If an employer collapses and its DB pension scheme cannot pay members what they were promised, the PPF pays compensation for their lost pensions.
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