Deficits

Hachette UK is to close its two defined benefit pension schemes to future accrual and inject an additional £8m to tackle its £35m deficit.

An independent model of the Pension Protection Fund 7800 index shows the collective scheme deficit has plummeted £80bn over the past two weeks - equivalent to about £8bn every day.

Trinity Mirror has cut its defined benefit pensions deficit by £61m and locked in its gains with a £118m insurance contract.

Trustees and sponsors have been battening down the hatches in the past week as market volatility hit deficits and liabilities.

Aggregate deficits of schemes monitored by the Pension Protection Fund worsened last month, increasing to £67.3bn from £8.3bn at the end of July.

Greggs has cut more than £15m from its defined benefit scheme after switching from Retail Prices Index-linking to Consumer Prices Index-linking.

Pension funds are facing a "double whammy" as their reaction to falling asset values exacerbates a rise in liabilities, warns a fiduciary manager.

Bookmaker William Hill has halved its £30m defined benefit deficit since the start of the year after ceasing future accrual in March, its interim results reveal.

UK - pension funds are failing to protect themselves adequately against the effects of a European debt and economic crisis, Cardano believes.

UK - GKN has knocked £28m ($45.9m) off its UK scheme deficit since December thanks to asset value gains arising from its asset-backed partnership arrangement.