WIREDGOV

Just seven weeks after becoming the first mutual to spin out of central Government, MyCSP Ltd has taken on 15 new contracts, Chief Executive Phil Bartlett has announced recently. These will provide MyCSP Ltd with thousands of pounds worth of business.

As a mutual, MyCSP Ltd’s employees own a significant share of the business which gives them board level representation and a share in profits. A range of key public service providers, including the House of Lords, Food Standards Agency, and the Electoral Commission, have all chosen this innovative new mutual to administer their pension schemes effectively. This is in addition to MyCSP Ltd’s existing contract to administer the Civil Service Pension scheme for 1.5 million public sector workers.

In future, MyCSP Ltd will tender for more business in the private and public sectors, including local authorities and even public sector organisations in the European Union.

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:

This is a real vote of confidence for what a mutual, at the cutting edge of public sector reform, can achieve. MyCSP Ltd will halve pension administration costs, saving taxpayers’ money while improving the service. The Government is supporting entrepreneurial front line public sector staff to form mutuals and take control of the services they provide.

Phil Bartlett, MyCSP Ltd Chief Executive, said:

It is fantastic news that public service providers are keen to award us their business and are confident in the high quality of services we provide. The flexibility we have as a Mutual Joint Venture allows us to flourish in this way as a business, while delivering tangible returns for the employees who work for us. Our employees have a significant stake in everything we do and I am delighted that they stand to benefit from our recent successes.

Lord Hutton of Furness, Chairman of MyCSP Ltd, said:

This early success is a credit to our whole team who’ve shown extraordinary commitment to making our business the industry leader. We have a great deal of work to do but today’s announcement shows we’re on the right track. Personally, I’m very pleased that MyCSP Ltd will be administering the House of Lords pension scheme as I know my own pension will be in safe hands.

Notes to Editors

1. MyCSP Ltd’s innovative Mutual Joint Venture model gives employees a 25% ownership stake, representation at board level and a share in profits. It ends the binary choice between private and state provision. The Equiniti Group’s Paymaster business has a 40% stake, and the Government has retained a 35% stake so taxpayers benefit as the business grows in value.

2. MyCSP Ltd has been awarded 15 new contracts to administer pensions for the House of Lords, Competition Commission, Electoral Commission, Commission for Equality and Human Rights, Food Standards Agency, Army Sports & Control Board, Law Commissioners, Residential Property Tribunal, East Midlands RDA, East England DA, North West DA, South West RDA, Yorkshire Forward, Advantage West Midlands, and ONE.

3. MyCSP Ltd was awarded the contract on 1 May 2012 to administer the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme for seven years, with an option to extend for a further three years, after which the contract will be retendered. MyCSP Ltd has 500 Employee Partners in offices in Cheadle Hulme, Liverpool, Newcastle, Worthing, Basingstoke and Leeds. The 25% employee stake is managed by the MyCSP Employee Partnership Trust Chaired by Mark Lund. The Trust appoints a Non-Executive Director onto the Board of Directors and will pay employee partners a dividend from profits annually. An Employee Partnership Council has been elected through a ballot in which 76% of employees voted. The Council is chaired by an elected member and has a seat on the executive management board chaired by the CEO. The Employee Partnership Council is also responsible for the company’s corporate social responsibility scheme called 1+1+1. It commits the company to: donating 1% of net profits to charity; volunteering 1% of employee partners’ time to community projects; and reserving 1% of total headcount for apprenticeships and interns. In addition, the Chief Executive’s salary will be capped at eight times the organisation’s average salary to ensure that there will be no inflated pay-outs to management. The capital investment provided by Paymaster will enable MyCSP Ltd to replace outdated technology, leading to service improvements and greater efficiency. For further information please see: MyCSP.co.uk.

4. Equiniti Group is a leading business services provider delivering complex administration and payment solutions to over 2,200 clients in the UK public and private sectors. Operating through a number of specialist brands, the Group provides a range of pension and HR services and is the leader in the UK share registration market. Paymaster, Equiniti Group’s pension administration business, is partnering with MyCSP and holds a 40% share alongside employees and the Government in return for its investment of people, cash, technology and expertise. Paymaster has been making payments for 175 years, and today pays over £13 billion per annum to pensioners, dependants and annuitants in 180 countries worldwide. Equiniti Group has over 3,000 employees in 23 office locations and supports over 2,200 clients in both the public and private sectors including around 50% of the FTSE.

5. MyCSP Ltd is a member of the Employee Ownership Association which acts as the voice of co-owned business in the UK – a network of over a hundred companies with significant employee ownership and a sector of the economy worth over £30 billion annually. The Association’s role is to serve its member companies and promote the growth of employee ownership in the UK. Members include co-owned Gripple, Childbase, John Lewis, Waitrose, Unipart and Arup, plus a host of successful enterprises from many sectors of the economy. For further information visit www.employeeownership.co.uk.

6. Over £1billion of health services are provided by mutuals. Evidence suggests that employee ownership can boost productivity by up to 19%. John Lewis, one of Britain’s best known mutuals, continually tops customer satisfaction polls and has half the average staff turnover and sickness absence of the retail sector. The Government is supporting public servants who want to form mutuals with a £10million Mutuals Support Programme, Mutuals Information Service website htttp://mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk and hotline 0845 5390543.