Stakeholder is no longer a top priority for small businesses The fear of recession has overtaken stakeholder pensions as the priority for small businesses according to figures from Marks & Spencer Financial Services released today.

business is now a key issue for 12% of businesses with 5-250 employees, whereas only 2% mentioned it last year. (1)Part of the decline in the level of concern regarding pension provision can be attributed to the increase in the number of businesses that have provided their employees with access to pension provision. In the latest research 78% of companies have set up pension schemes and 63% of companies state with confidence that the pension scheme they have in place meets the requirements of stakeholder regulations. This compares to 60% and 37% respectively in April.While this is positive news, one in five employers (22%) still say they have no pension provision in place for their employees at all and therefore have a long way to go to meet the 8th October deadline. Nonetheless the research highlights that many small business employers have turned their attention away from thoughts of stakeholder pensions and are now more concerned with a possible recession in the UK."Stakeholder pensions have already had a significant impact on both the workplace and the pensions industry which is encouraging news for employers and employees alike. Worryingly as many as 84,096 firms2 with 5-250 employees need to make giant steps if they are to avoid the £50,000 fine" says Alan Rensch, Technical Pensions Manager, Marks & Spencer Financial Services He continued "In periods of economic uncertainty employers do need to consider costs and may argue that they have other concerns, but they also need to consider the future of their employees and how they would cope with such a crippling fine. Stakeholder pensions are low cost and easy to implement - one phone call and it is one less worry for the employer.""It is clear that, so far, the threat of a fine has done little to encourage companies to comply with stakeholder regulations. In hindsight it may have been a more positive move for the Government to incentivise compliance – giving companies something in return for their actions (perhaps offering companies further tax breaks for a limited period)."