Brightwell has begun its work as the administrator for the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) and has completed its first pensioner payroll run following a transition that took nearly a year.

MPS has around 6,000 deferred members and 110,000 pensioners in payment, making it one of the largest defined benefit (DB) schemes in the UK, and pays out approximately £700m to former mineworkers and their beneficiaries each year.

Following a competitive tender process last year, Brightwell was appointed to provide complete pension administration services to MPS.

This includes handling of all member processes, with all calls going directly through to pension administrators, while those who prefer to manage their pension online can do so through Brightwell’s new portal.

Brightwell has also introduced a “comprehensive programme” of member feedback as it seeks to ensure that continuous improvement initiatives are focused on what members need.

The new administration platform and portal are hosted on Procentia’s IntelliPen system and provide Coal Pension Trustees (CPT) with live dashboards.

“The MPS shares our passion for high-quality administration, and we are delighted to partner with them,” stated Brightwell CEO, Morten Nilsson.

“We achieved this transition in a short space of time thanks to the collective effort and effective collaboration between all parties. We look forward to sharing our technology, insights and experience to deliver an outstanding service to MPS members for the lifetime of the scheme.”

MPS scheme secretary, Andy Gibbons, added: “Brightwell exceeded our expectations, delivering what they promised, when they promised, and going live earlier than originally planned.

“We are already receiving very positive feedback from members, and we are confident that Brightwell will continue to deliver high levels of service for years to come.”

---