Helen May Email & Phone Number

Manchester

I advise trustees and employers in relation to the legal and regulatory framework which applies to defined benefit occupational pension plans. Recent experience includes: advising a trustee board in relation to a benefit re-design, drafting an updated definitive trust deed and rules and advising a company in respect of the pensions aspects of its Brexit strategy.

I advised trustees and employers in relation to defined benefit and defined contribution occupational pension plans, with a particular interest in plan restructurings, the Pension Protection Fund, equalisation and pension disputes.Representative experience included: - Advising trustees and employers in the global manufacturing, logistics and hospitality sectors in relation to plan mergers, the closure of plans to future accrual and changes to benefit structures. - Representing a company in the UK manufacturing industry in respect of a debt hive-off which resulted in the severance of the link between the company and its underfunded pension plan. - Providing counsel to a trustee board in connection with the EUR€120 million sale of the sponsoring employer by an international food group. - Advising trustee boards in the global environmental services and UK charity sectors in relation to the apportionment of statutory debts. - Undertaking pensions due diligence for a global professional service provider in connection with a £200 million acquisition. - Advising a listed company in relation to a professional negligence claim against former pensions advisers. - Advising trustees of plans in the manufacturing and retail industries of their responsibilities during Pension Protection Fund assessment periods.