Pensions Regulator secures full benefits for Box Clever Group Pension Scheme members

The Regulator has announced that all 2,800 members of the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme have transferred to the ITV Pension Scheme and members who have been receiving benefits at PPF levels since 2014 will receive full scheme benefits and back payments.

A regulatory intervention report was published on November 6, 2025, detailing how the Regulator pursued ITV for more than ten years to protect the benefits of thousands of savers. 

Box Clever was formed in 2000 as a joint venture between the TV rental businesses of Granada (now ITV) and Thorn (now Carmelite), and respective employees were transferred to the new company and enrolled in the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme. Following the joint venture’s collapse in 2011, the Regulator opened an anti-avoidance investigation, arguing that ITV had extracted “significant value from the joint venture” prior to the collapse.

In March 2020, ITV lost a legal challenge against the Regulator over the use of its anti-avoidance powers and was given a six-month deadline to put financial support in place for the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme. ITV submitted an initial offer of £31m to the Regulator in August 2020 to settle, which was later increased to £52m. However, agreement could still not be reached, and the Regulator sought a Contribution Notice for the scheme’s full buyout deficit, which at the time was around £77m.

Ultimately, the Regulator and ITV agreed a settlement in July 2024, with the bulk transfer of members finally completed on October 1, 2025, following a comprehensive data cleansing exercise. Back payments of benefits plus interest will now be made and members should receive their full pensions due under the scheme.

The Regulator has since confirmed that its regulatory action against ITV has ceased, with the final agreement also gaining backing from both the trustees of the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme and the PPF.

According to the Regulator, the case has provided "helpful clarity" on Financial Support Direction legislative provisions and enforcement cases more generally, including on issues of retrospectivity, discrimination, and the scope of the Regulator’s remit.