E-commerce and law firms perform badly

Nearly a third of solicitors firms and e-commerce companies have not put
stakeholder schemes in place and could face fines of up to £50,000.

Research by Sedgwick Independent Financial Consultants shows that only 70
per cent of solicitors firms and 65 per cent of e-commerce companies have
either introduced a stakeholder pension scheme or already have an occupational
pension scheme.

Just over half of the 2,000 solicitors firms surveyed already have a
stakeholder scheme in place as do 45 per cent of the 1,200 e-commerce
businesses which took part in the research.

The study reveals that 12 per cent of solicitors and 19 per cent of
e-commerce firms said they were "not interested" in talking about a
stakeholder scheme.

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Dawn Johnson, director of financial advice at Woolwich, said, "The fact
that nearly a third of companies in these two sectors have not signed up to a
stakeholder scheme is alarming given that the 8 October deadline is now upon
us."

All employers with five or more staff are required by law to have introduced
a stakeholder scheme by 8 October if they have no other pension provision or
face fines.