The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has confirmed that all 2,800 members of the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme have transferred to the ITV Pension Scheme as a result of its previous action, bringing one of TPR's longest-running cases to a close.

TPR's latest update confirmed that members who have been receiving benefits at Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levels since 2014 will now receive full scheme benefits and back payments.

Formed in 2000 as a joint venture between the TV rental businesses of Granada (now ITV) and Thorn (now Carmelite), the launch of Box Clever saw respective employees transferred to the new company and enrolled in the Box Clever Pension Scheme.

Following the scheme’s collapse in 2011, however, TPR opened an anti-avoidance investigation, arguing that ITV had extracted “significant value from the joint venture” prior to the collapse.

In March 2020, following a "lengthy legal battle", ITV lost a legal challenge against TPR over the regulator’s use of anti-avoidance powers and was given a six-month deadline to put financial support in place for the Box Clever scheme.

ITV submitted an initial offer of £31m to TPR in August 2020 to settle, then increased its provision to £52m.

However, when agreement could not be reached, TPR issued further proceedings seeking a Contribution Notice for the scheme’s full buyout deficit, which at the time was around £77m.

Ultimately, TPR was able to agree to a settlement with ITV in July 2024, with the bulk transfer of members finally completed on 1 October 2025, following a comprehensive data cleansing exercise.

Following the transfer, back payments plus interest will now be made and members should receive their full scheme benefits.

TPR has therefore confirmed that it has now ceased its regulatory action against ITV and associated entities, with this agreement also gaining backing from both the trustees of the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme and the PPF.

Commenting on the news, TPR executive director of regulatory compliance, Gaucho Rasmussen, said: “We are pleased to outline the final chapter in this long-running case, showing how, if necessary, we will pursue complex cases to protect savers.

“Throughout our investigation, we remained open to settlement discussions that would achieve a good outcome for the scheme and were pleased to reach a suitable agreement with ITV in July 2024.

“I encourage everyone with an interest in DB schemes to read the report carefully to understand how we used our Financial Support Direction (FSD) powers to require ITV to put financial support in place for the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme.”

TPR said that the case also provided "helpful clarity" on its FSD legislation and our enforcement cases more generally, including on issues of retrospectivity, discrimination, and the scope of TPR's case.

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