PensionsAug 10 2021

Director banned over pension negligence

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Director banned over pension negligence

A director of a call centre has been banned for eight years after he ran an unregistered pension scheme, risking more than £200,000 from people’s pensions.

Philip James Hopkinson, from Nottingham, was the director of Target Source Media, which operated as a call centre which bought and sold data from November 2011.

In June 2016, Hopkinson on behalf of Target Source Media Limited, set up the Target Source Media Pension Scheme. 

Less than a year later, he transferred the administration of the occupational pension scheme to a third party and over the next five months, members transferred over £200,000 into the scheme, which remained unregistered in breach of the Pensions Act 2004.

Hopkinson admitted he never met or spoke with those he appointed nor verified their ability or experience to administer a pension scheme.

Neil North, chief investigator of the Insolvency Service, said: “Hopkinson breached the duties placed on him as a director of a limited company and as a result, members of the public have been unnecessarily put at risk and have potentially lost funds from their occupational pensions.

“In such cases, the Insolvency Service will not hesitate to take action to remove the privilege of limited liability status from such individuals.”

Hopkinson resigned as a director of Target Source Media in June 2017 but he remained as an employee for a further two to three months and helped authorise the transfer of members’ funds out of the pension scheme bank account.

In addition, at the time of the winding-up of Target Source Media Limited in 2018, the company had separate debts of over £65,000.

Following an Insolvency Service investigation, Hopkinson signed an eight-year disqualification undertaking which began on June 25, 2021.

amy.austin@ft.com

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