LONDON - Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, has been appointed by Punch Taverns plc to provide pensions administration and pensions manager support services.

Punch Taverns is one of the UK's leading pub companies with over 8,300 leased and managed public houses around the country. The company's £320m pension scheme, which includes both defined benefit and defined contribution members, has over 11,000 lives including both actives and deferreds.

Simon Belton, group pension manager at Punch Taverns, said:

"We were already receiving actuarial and investment advice from Hewitt, so we have had the opportunity to build a strong working relationship. Using Hewitt for pensions administration services for our Spirit Group and Retail pension schemes was a logical extension of that.

"Outsourcing the pension manager support role to Hewitt is also proving valuable.  By establishing a single direct contact point for tracking and sharing information it has become easier to demonstrate to trustees that the fund is being efficiently managed and also to communicate this to members and employees."

Ian Terry, pensions administration business development manager at Hewitt said:

"We were delighted to take on these new roles with the Spirit Group and Retail pensions schemes.  Our main objectives were to improve efficiency and performance, so the deep knowledge of the scheme that has been built up while working with it in other capacities has enabled the quick transfer of information within our team.

"We have now established new service levels and are on the way to delivering a better return for the fund's expenditure by doing things in the right way, with the right people and skill sets, at the right cost." 

About Hewitt Associates
Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) provides leading organisations around the world with expert human resources consulting and outsourcing solutions to help them anticipate and solve their most complex benefits, talent, and related financial challenges. Hewitt works with companies to design, implement, communicate, and administer a wide range of human resources, retirement, investment management, health care, compensation, and talent management strategies. With a history of exceptional client service since 1940, Hewitt has offices in more than 30 countries and employs approximately 23,000 associates who are helping to make the world a better place to work. For more information, please visit www.hewitt.com

Other Contacts
Anna Mitchell, Capital MS&L, 020 7307 5346 or anna.mitchell@capitalmsl.com
Wendy Svirakova, Capital MS&L, 020 7255 5177 or wendy.svirakova@capitalmsl.com