Richard Lambert, director general at the Confederation of British Industry, suggests that in the past few months, an increasing number of businesses had voiced alarm at the mounting pressures on providers of defined benefit (DB) schemes, which include final salary pensions.

He said that businesses need breathing space from further regulation if DB schemes are to be preserved. Otherwise, further costs and extra red tape on surviving schemes would force firms to close their schemes for accrual.

In addition, greater longevity and the capital market instability associated with the credit crunch and economic slowdown have also raised the pressure on DB pensions.

Lambert says, ‘Pension deficits are back near the top of the corporate worry list. There is an incoming tide of complex and expensive new regulation that threatens to drive an extra nail into the coffin of many DB schemes.

‘Firms want to preserve their excellent schemes for employees, but the pressure on them is continuing to build. This spring, we have seen another assault on boardroom confidence, and the result is growing pressure to be wary of involvement in UK-defined benefit – even to avoid it all together where possible.’