Expertise

Leanne is a managing associate in our pensions team. She advises both trustee and corporate clients on a wide range of pension law issues including scheme closure and scheme change exercises, the Pension Regulator's moral hazard powers and implications for business decisions (e.g. closure of a manufacturing facility), scheme mergers and cross border issues.

A large proportion of the pension schemes Leanne advises in relation to are legacy final salary schemes whose employers operate across the Industrials sector. As a result, Leanne is alert to how pensions issues affect businesses in this sector and is able to provide strategic advice to clients in relation to the management and governance of their pension schemes and the snowballing costs.

Leanne's experience includes:

• advising Carclo Plc in relation to its final salary pension scheme including auto enrolment compliance, employee re-organisations and pension implications of business re-financing
• advising Michelin Tyre Public Limited Company in relation to its DB pension scheme including the provision of a bespoke Governance Manual to assist with the management and correct governance of the scheme and advising in relation to cross boarder issues and the pensions implication of closing one of Michelin's UK manufacturing sites
• advising the trustees of the Tioxide Pension Fund, on all day-to day pension issues and most recently on the scheme wide buy-in of liabilities with Legal & General
• advising the trustees of the Reliance Precision Limited Retirement and Death Benefits Scheme, a complex hybrid DC/DB Scheme, in relation to the operation of salary sacrifice, benefit changes, the introduction of the new DC pension flexibilities and flexible retirement practices and removal of DB liabilities.