The Work and Pensions Committee is to write to the trustees of the Palmer and Harvey (P&H) pension scheme, along with The Pensions Regulator, over the reported £80m ‘pensions black hole’ in light of the collapse of the group.

The company is the UK’s largest delivered wholesaler to the convenience market and serves around 90,000 customers, ranging from corner shops to large supermarkets including Tesco.

PwC has been appointed as the administrator by the London High Court, following an application by the directors of the group’s companies. The collapse of the group has seen redundancies of 2,500.

PwC said the group has been hit by challenging trading conditions in recent months and efforts to restructure the business have been unsuccessful. This has resulted in cash flow pressures and it has not been possible to secure additional funding to support the business.

However, as reported in This is Money a small number of P&H executives received almost £70m between 2009 and 2016 after a debt-fueled management buyout. According to the paper, the payments, of at least 8.2 million a year, continued even as losses at the company rose.

It also reported that trustees of the pension scheme have warned the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) of an £80m pension deficit, despite its most recent accounts showing a deficit of just £5.3m.

As a result of the collapse, PwC is looking to explore options for a sale of several of the group’s companies, however, it is expected the pension scheme will enter the PPF.

Commenting, a PPF spokesperson said: “We are aware that Palmer & Harvey has gone into administration. As a result, we expect that the pension scheme will enter the PPF assessment period, and members can be reassured that we are there to protect them.”

A spokesperson for PwC declined to comment on the pension scheme at this moment in time.

Share Story: