Appointments: Ford, Brunel, Burges Salmon, First Actuarial, Hymans

Tim Briggs is stepping down as chair of trustees for Ford’s £11bn UK pension scheme after eight years in the role.

Briggs told Pensions Expert he is retiring from the car manufacturer after a 38-year career, with a view to remaining in the pensions industry.

A replacement chair will be announced by Ford in the coming weeks.

During Briggs’ tenure, Ford introduced new flexibilities for members to allow them to offer partial transfers from its defined benefit scheme at retirement.

It also co-led a judicial review of the government’s plan to move from RPI to CPIH as the official measure of inflation.

Brunel names Bridgeland as next chair

Brunel Pension Partnership has appointed Sally Bridgeland as the next chair of its board of directors.

She will join the board as deputy chair on 1 May and will take over as chair in October when current chair Denise Le Gal’s eight-year tenure ends.

Bridgeland is an actuary with extensive executive, advisory and non-executive experience across the pensions and investment industries and in both the private and public sectors.

Her current roles include chair of the board of Impax Asset Management Group, although she will step down this summer. She is also a non-executive director at Pension Insurance Corporation and RSA, as well as chair of BelleVie Care.

Bridgeland’s previous roles include non-exec roles at Royal London and Local Pensions Partnership, and trustee positions at Nest and Lloyds Banking Group. She was CEO of BP Pension Trustees for seven years until 2014.

Laura Chappell, CEO of Brunel Pension Partnership, said: “Sally offers multiple strengths as both a leader and a Board member. She benefits from exceptional experience across pensions and investment and has a strong track record in both responsible investment and stakeholder relations.”

Bridgeland said: “I’m delighted and honoured to be joining Brunel at such a crucial moment for pooling and pensions investment in the UK.

Burges Salmon adds to pensions team

Law firm Burges Salmon has named Steven Hull and Chris Brown as partners in its pensions and lifetime savings team.

Hull will join the firm’s London office on 1 May from Eversheds. He has worked in the legal sector in London for more than 30 years.

He advises trustees and public and private company employers on all aspects of pensions law, specialising in corporate transactions, restructurings, administrations and insolvencies.

Brown, meanwhile, has been promoted to partner having joined the firm in 2009 as a trainee.

It follows the appointments of Mairi Carlin as a professional support lawyer in January and several hires in Burges Salmon’s Scotland team. Senior associate Kelly Beattie will also join the Edinburgh office in April.

First Actuarial appoints financial wellbeing lead

Catherine Lockyer has been appointed head of financial wellbeing at First Actuarial.

She joined from Hazell Carr in 2004 and was made a partner in 2012, and has also worked for Mercer.

First Actuarial said her appointment was “a recognition of Catherine’s pioneering work in the area of financial wellbeing, which is now recognised as a standard employee benefit by many”.

The company will launch a range of new financial wellbeing services to supplement its existing programmes, overseen by Lockyer and her team.

Hymans Robertson promotes 12

Consultancy group Hymans Robertson has promoted 11 staff to partner level and one to equity member. 

Andrew Gaches, head of longevity, has been promoted to equity member. The new partners are:

• Susan Black, head of LGPS governance, administration and projects 
• Laura Finnie, head of compliance for Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth 
• Phil Hardingham, head of digital strategy (investment) 
• Nicola Kenyon, head of insurance investment and ALM
• Alison Leslie, head of DC investment
• Kerry McClymont, senior actuarial consultant
• Nell McRae, senior investment consultant
• Ross Murray, head of longevity consulting
• Claire Roarty, associate business unit head for DC consulting 
• Steven Scott, senior actuarial consultant
• Chris Varley, head of LGPS digital strategy