Rachel Blake: Everyone should have the opportunity to build financial resilience. Source: parliament.uk. Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
A group of 21 businesses, representing around 400,000 employees, has come together to launch the National Coalition for Workplace Savings.
The coalition – which includes a steering group of 18 major employers as well as an additional three employer signatories – aims to support more UK adults to save regularly through workplace saving schemes, which are designed to support people to build emergency savings.
The coalition – initiated through the government's financial inclusion strategy and unveiled earlier this year – said it will work to increase the number of UK employees accessing and benefiting from workplace savings by championing uptake, sharing best practice and supporting innovation over the coming years.
It is now calling on employers across the UK to join as signatories, implement workplace savings schemes to bolster their employees' financial security, and work together to increase participation rates in those schemes to support people to save.
National Coalition for Workplace Savings chair and Co-op Group chief people officer Claire Costello said: "Building consistent saving habits is an important part of improving financial resilience across the UK.
"With growing evidence of the benefits provided by workplace saving schemes, this collective of employers, supporters and partners will help more people build a financial safety net. By making saving easier and more accessible, workplace saving schemes could transform the savings landscape, and I am excited to work with all involved as the coalition progresses."
Economic secretary to the Treasury Rachel Blake added: "Everyone should have the opportunity to build financial resilience, but we know that when household budgets are stretched, saving can be difficult.
"The government's financial inclusion strategy creates more opportunities for people to save through workplace savings schemes. Working with employers across sectors, this coalition will help make workplace savings schemes easier to access and support more working people to build regular savings habits and a financial safety net. I strongly encourage employers to get behind this scheme today."
The National Coalition for Workplace Savings has been convened by the Money and Pensions Service, Nest Insight and The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA). It is backed by HM Treasury.
Steering group members are: Co-op Group, ACS Clothing, Bupa Care Services, Coastline Housing, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), First Bus, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Greene King, Legal & General (L&G), Mitie, Next, Nuffield Health, OCS UK & Ireland, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, StepChange, Suez UK, Travelodge, Wolseley UK, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP), and Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA).
The coalition operates through three groups: signatories, supporters and partners. Signatories are employers committed to increasing workplace savings participation to an appropriate level; supporters bring solution design, research, or policy expertise; and partners provide workplace savings solutions.
Employer signatories, beyond the steering group members, are Burger King UK, Storal, and Travis Perkins.
Supporters, beyond the steering group members, are All Together Money (formerly ABCUL), the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), The Building Societies Association, the Irish League of Credit Unions and Reward Strategy.
The National Coalition for Workplace Savings' partners are Commsave, First Rate Credit Union, Glasgow Credit Union, Hastee, Incuto, Level, My Money Matters, PayCaptain, Sage, Salary Finance, Serve & Protect Credit Union, Stream, Sync Savings, Penny Post Group, and Zellis.
Employers can join the coalition via its website, or by contacting the Money and Pensions Service, Nest Insight or TISA. More information about the coalition is available here: https://www.tisa.uk.com/savingscoalition/
