- Case studies
- Designing the British Steel Pension Scheme’s ‘Time to Choose’ exercise
Helping 125,000 steelworkers make a big decision about their future
How we designed the British Steel Pension Scheme’s ‘Time to Choose’ exercise.
When British Steel restructured, 125,000 members faced a complex choice and little time to make it in. They needed to decide whether to move to a new scheme with different benefits, or remain in their original scheme which was then due to enter the Pension Protection Fund. The Trustee had never had to communicate anything like this before, and there was intense media interest and a fog of misinformation.
Our aim was to make the Trustee the trusted source of information and help. We conceived and created ‘Time to Choose’ – a campaign that included 33 town hall events, 4 videos and 3 newsletters. The scheme’s complex history and structure meant that what was right for one member was not necessarily right for another. So we wrote and designed 26 variations of an information and decision pack. We coordinated and chaired a complicated sign-off process, bringing together lawyers, administrators, the trustees and the regulators.
The client had hoped that 50% of members would make an active choice. We achieved 80%. An independent review found that 93% of members who’d chosen the new scheme and 80% of those who’d stayed with the original one rated the member packs as helpful.
“81% of BSPS2 members felt they had been provided with the right amount of information to make their choice.”
Caroline Rookes
Independent Review report
