The Pensions Regulator’s director of auto-enrolment Darren Ryder will leave his role next year to develop auto-enrolment systems in other countries.
The regulator has today (November 27) announced that Mr Ryder will leave the organisation in early 2020.
He has made the choice to leave TPR to help other countries develop their own auto-enrolment programmes, the regulator stated.
Mr Ryder joined TPR eight years ago to support the initial design and delivery of auto-enrolment in the UK following his involvement in the successful implementation of Kiwi-Saver in New Zealand.
He initially joined the regulator on a six-month secondment but decided to stay on to work as head of compliance and enforcement, before becoming director of the auto-enrolment programme in 2017.
Mr Ryder said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at TPR and am immensely proud of the work the team has achieved together.
“I know that I am leaving committed, talented people who will continue to build on the success of auto-enrolment, ensuring that millions more people can save with confidence for their retirement.”
Charles Counsell, chief executive of TPR, said: “Darren has made a huge contribution to the successful delivery of automatic enrolment in the UK, with more than 10m people now saving into a pension.
“Darren only planned to be with us for six months, and he stayed for eight years, supporting me and the wider TPR team through the design, build and delivery of automatic enrolment. I am hugely grateful to him for the difference he has made and I wish him every success in the future.”
Auto-enrolment was introduced in late 2012 and to date 10m employees have been enrolled into a workplace pension.
The minimum pension contributions increased in April, from 5 per cent to 8 per cent.
In December 2017, the department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published its review of auto-enrolment, which also announced a series of measures it was looking to implement.
This included lowering the age of workers auto-enrolled into workplace pension schemes from 22 to 18 years and calculating contributions from the first pound earned, instead of the current £10,000 lower earnings threshold.
However, these changes will only by introduced by the mid-2020s.
amy.austin@ft.com
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