Reader’s Digest goes into administration putting 117 UK jobs at risk

Reader’s Digest has gone into administration in the UK, putting 117 jobs at risk, following the collapse of a deal to pay off its pension shortfall.

The move comes after talks between the US parent company and the UK Pensions Regulator broke down.

The dispute was focused on how to deal with a £125m deficit in the company’s UK pension fund. Reader’s Digest had agreed a deal with the Pension Protection Fund to pay off a small part of the pension deficit, but the regulator rejected the agreement.

Without a deal, the UK publishing company said it could not meet its pension obligations and so could not sustain its operations, the BBC reported.

Administrators said the magazine would continue while a buyer was sought.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

The magazine’s UK employees are employed in Swindon and Canary Wharf.

The US parent group, Reader’s Digest Association (RDA), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year after struggling with interest payments on a $2.2bn (£1.4bn) debt, but the company now expects to come out of Chapter 11 shortly.