At our last council meeting, Norman confirmed that he would be standing down from his role as Chairman after 14 years’ service.

However, we are delighted to announce that he has agreed to take on the vacant role of President with immediate e ect, replacing Michael Smedley who re red earlier this year.

Neil Hopkins, who will become ac ng Chairman stated that “ We are all very pleased that Norman has agreed to stay on as his extensive knowledge and experience of Pension and investment ma ers would have been a huge loss to the Na onal Council and our organisa on as a whole“.

Members will have already been notified that Mike Tudor has decided to stand down from his role of Chair of the Trustee Board. We would like to express our gratitude to Mike for his significant contribution to the successful management of the fund and wish him well for the future.

The Chair will now be taken by Helen Clatworthy, who has recently re red from the company.

In the same communica on, Phil Hughes also announced that he would be leaving his role as Pension Fund Manager and Secretary to the Trustee Board. He will be replaced by Simon Lewis.

Phil has chaired our PFCC mee ngs for several years and we would also like to thank him for his commitment and enthusiasm as well as wishing him every success in his new role in Imperial.

Finally, Julian Banks one of our Pensioner Member Nominated Trustees will shortly have completed his ini al term of o ce. Members will have received no ca on of the applica on process a few weeks ago

N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 6 I s s u e N o 6 3

IMPAC is a member of the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance

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Ch

airm

ans

Cor

ner

My last ‘Corner’ was wri en just before the Referendum and we have since moved on to a rather different world. We have a new set of poli cians with daun ng problems on their hands. Much as we find fault with them from

me to me it is difficult where not to look across the Atlan c (only 50% of U.S. ci zens vote) and to Europe (which seems to have given up on democracy) and con-clude that our muddle through system has some ad-vantages!

We con nue to live in a febrile world with opinion swinging wildly between future growthless defla on and stag-fla on. The endless experiment with s mula on by low interest rates and infinite money supply now appears to have become fu le and is gradually falling out of favour. The transi on to extract ourselves from nega ve interest rates is a dangerous phase. The seven year market recovery from the financial disasters of 2008/09 may well have run its course.

To return to down to earth ma ers, it looks as if our R.P.I. protec on is about to be needed in the immediate future. State Pensions are likely to rise by 2.5% (the triple lock minimum). Our Fund increase next April, based on R.P.I. for calendar year 2016, is likely to be something similar as the effect of a weak exchange rate kicks in. Next year may well be higher s ll with current es mates for PPI of 3 to 4%. Since RPI is usually about 1 % higher this would imply 4 to 5% for our Fund increase and reminds us of our good fortune in having such protec on.

As you will all be very aware a ending funerals becomes a way of life for our age group. This year included Andrew Reid, the last pre-Hanson Chief Execu ve. On a more cheerful note I a ended a ‘senior’ Reunion at Bristol & Cli on Golf Club presided over by our spritely 98 year old former President Tony Garre . It is sal-utary to note that at these groups the widows are gradually taking over. Silver surfers can ‘google’ :- Tony Garre Imperial Tobacco, and see a splendid photo-graph celebra ng his 96th!

Every three years pension funds like ours have a major financial review. Our lat-est occurred at the end of March this year and the calcula ons by the Actuary are said to be well advanced. In deciding the new level of contribu ons current regula ons allow the company to deliberate un l as late as June of next year. Given the very uncertain world in which we live it may well be the case that they will take as long as possible over the process in order to keep their op ons open. IMPAC take independent professional advice and we will do this as soon as we receive the final report. Then follows a very busy spell of mee ngs by a Council sub commi ee.

I am now in my 14th year, and fi h Valua on, as your Chairman and am delight-ed to pass the baton to Neil Hopkins who has done so much to reshape and streamline us. I am very happy to serve in the background but delighted to move on shortly a er my 80th birthday. All of us will want to wish Elizabeth Brimmell, our indispensable Honorary Secretary , a speedy recovery . We really did miss her organiza onal skills at our recent mee ng !

Best wishes to all rather early for Christmas and the coming year …...Norman

IMPAC is a member of the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance

P a g e 3 I s s u e N o 6 3

The company has reported that

tobacco net revenue had increased by

9.7%, with total adjusted profits up by

10.4% for the financial year ended

Sept ember 2016.

The press release also stated that the

company would be inves ng a further

£300 million next year in “selected growth opportuni es” as well as targe ng

poten al cost savings of £300 million per year by 2020.

Our Web designer has been busy developing our new website which we hope will go ‘live ’ on the 1st December 2016

His brief was to make the site simple to use, yet informa ve for our exis ng users as well as being an a rac ve and interes ng site for poten al new members .

The website features news and informa on about forthcoming events as well as a new ‘members only ‘sec on which contains mee ng notes and financial informa on about Impac.

The website address remains the same : www.impac.org.uk  

IMPAC has historically enjoyed a steady stream of new members from employees leaving the

company.However, the closure of the No ngham factory has reduced the number of current

employees in our sec on of the Pension Fund to less than 600. As a result, we shall now have to

re-focus our recruitment campaigns towards exis ng Imperial pensioners.

The strength of any organiza on is with the size of its membership coupled with its financial

resources. Whilst we have taken steps to ensure that we maximize our con ngency fund, we

must now turn our a en on towards boos ng our membership numbers.

So if you know an Imperial pensioner who is not already a member of IMPAC encourage them to

join our ranks and earn yourself a £ 5 voucher in the process.

Don’t forget membership is free for the first year. 

Membership Drive

New website almost complete

“We delivered another strong performance this year with great results from our expanded US business”

Alison Cooper 

Chief Execu ve 

Company News

IMPAC is a member of the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance

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Pen

sion

Fu

nd

New

s The 53rd mee ng of the Pension Fund Consulta ve Commi ee (PFCC) took place

in Bristol on 3rd November 2016. Phil Hughes chaired the mee ng and began by

introducing Helen Clatworthy, our new Chair of the Trustee Board and Simon

Lewis, the new Pension Fund Manager and Secretary to the Trustee Board.

(Our picture shows Phil Hughes, Helen Clatworthy,

Simon Lewis and Leigh Callaghan at the mee ng),

AGENDA ITEMS

TRIENNIAL VALUATION - The mee ng heard that the Triennial valua on process was progressing well and that the Scheme Actuary was nearing the comple on of his Valua on of the fund . Once finalised, the Actuary will establish a funding require-ment, which he will then discuss and agree with the Company. These nego a ons can take me to conclude due to the size and complexity of the funding arrangements. Members will recall that the funding requirement from the 2010 and 2013 Valua ons was £93 million and £157.5 million respec vely. It is an cipated that the PFCC will be presented with the results of the 2016 Triennial valua on next Summer.

BREXIT - In response to a ques on tabled by Impac, the mee ng heard that the outcome of the referendum had been a shock to the markets, but the short term repercussions were now known, for example, the vola lity in the Sterling ex-change rate . However, the fund took a much longer term view for its investments and it was too early to make predic ons without more knowledge of the terms of the BREXIT se lement. The latest Court ruling regarding BREXIT will only serve to further complicate the process.

However, as our withdrawal from the Single Market may well have financial or legisla ve implica ons on the fund, this item will probably remain on the agenda for some me to come.

NOTTINGHAM CLOSURE - The mee ng was informed that the factory closure had reduced the number of members in the Defined Benefits sec on of the fund cur-rently employed by the company to below 550. Unfortunately, the closure has also meant that we have lost several Employee Representa ves from the PFCC.

INVESTMENT REPORT - It was reported that Fund had increased in value this year as a result a 7% return on investments. The highlight of the investment ac vity was news of the rather ‘opportunis c ’ but extremely profitable sale of the fund’s largest single investment In Jermyn Street in London.

The mee ng concluded with a presenta on to Phil Hughes who leaves the PFCC to take up his new role within the Company.

Pension Fund Consultative Committee

IMPAC is a member of the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance

The Retail price index (RPI) for the 12 months

ending 30th September has increased to 2%, and

is now at its highest level since November

2014 .It is expected that inflation will continue to

rise for the next few months at least.

Commentators have attributed some the rise to

the increasing cost of imported food as a result

of the fall in the value of Sterling since the

outcome of the EU referendum last June.

Members are aware that we regularly track the Inflation index against our own pension increase

and up until May this year , our annual increases had beaten inflation every month since

October 2013.

Our next year’s pension increase is based on the RPI inflation index for the 12 months

ending December 2016.

I s s u e N o 6 3

.The Na onal Council met in Bristol on Tuesday 2nd November 2016

Agenda items included a progress report on the development of the newsle er and website projects.

Council also heard of the significant progress being made by our membership agency BPI with the upgrading of their database which will allow greater func onality, and also of the improvements made to our renewal documenta on. Members will begin to see evidence of these changes when they receive their subscrip on renewals.

Following on the membership theme, Council devoted considerable me deba ng ideas for future recruitment campaigns and promo ons. As a first step they agreed to a membership offer contained in this edi on of the newsle er.

On a more serious note, Council reviewed the quality of our current informa on sources and agreed to con nue trials on two newsfeed services with a view to purchasing them later in the year.

The Treasurer, Stephen Grant reported that whilst subscrip on income was less than at the same me last year, our expenditure had been significantly reduced by nearly 20%, even a er allowing for one- off costs such as our 25th Anniversary celebra ons and various development projects.

The mee ng finished with a discussion on the feasibility of the Na onal Council plans to present to members in several ci es next summer. Details are featured on page 6 of this newsle er, but much will depend on the interest shown by members in those areas to a end these events.

Chairman, Norman Ferguson brought the mee ng to a close for the last me at 5.33pm.

Inflation rate hits 2%

P a g e 5

National Council Report

IMPAC is a member of the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance

P a g e 6

For

thco

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ven

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N E W S L E T T E R

‘This sec on will be a regular feature to adver se forthcoming IMPAC

events. However, should members wish to publicise any local events that

may be of interest, please contact The Editor, (address on back page). ‘

The 2017 IMPAC Roadshow Event

The Na onal Council are planning a series of mee ngs

next Summer to present informa on about :-

The Impac restructure

The Na onal Councils‘ future plans

The 2016 Triennial review results

Current Pension Fund issues

A Ques ons & Answer session will follow

It is planned to hold Roadshow presenta ons in :‐

Bristol, No ngham ,Glasgow & S rling

Members interested in a ending should contact :

by Post :‐

IMPAC Roadshow, PO Box 10486,Oxton, NG24 9NL

or by Email to :

impacpension@gmail.com

Please give name & address and the venue you wish to a end.

Details of venue, date and mes etc will be sent to members who have

expressed an interest in a ending and will also be published in our April

newsle er .

IMPAC is a member of the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance

IMPAC Annual General Meeting

The 26th Annual General mee ng will be held at :

Gateway Hilton Hotel

Nuthall Road

No ngham NG8 6AZ

Tel 0800 316 1008

Sco sh Pensioners Christmas Lunch 

Enjoy a 3 course lunch with Tea/coffee

followed by a Fun quiz and a free raffle

Come along and celebrate Christmas with old friends

and workmates in what has become a very enjoyable

and successful annual event .

When

Wednesday 7th December 2016

12.30 for 1pm

Where

Whitevale Bowling Club

Whitehill Street

Dennistoun

Glasgow G31 2EH

To book please contact :

Ray Paterson

35, Cowal Crescent,

Kirkin llock,

Glasgow G66 3SZ

Tel …..0141 776 0170

Tickets cost £10 each

Cheques payable to R Paterson

I s s u e N o 6 3 P a g e 7

Events cont..

Midlands Pensioners Spring Meeting

Wollaton ark Community Associa on

Harrow Road

No ngham NG8 1FG

Tel 0115 9288860

11th April, 2017

Start me 10.30 am

Light Buffet

May 2016

Exact date to be

confirmed

Please write to The Editor. P. O. Box 10486, Oxton NG24 9NL

Contacts Name Email address Telephone President Norman Ferguson impacpension@gmail.com 01275 375535 Vice chair Neil Hopkins impacpension@gmail.com 01159 653969 Secretary Elizabeth Brimmell impacpension@gmail.com 01761 453926 Treasurer Stephen J Grant impacpension@gmail.com 01912 893944

The Na onal Council has decided to replace the network of regional contacts with one single ‘helpline’ in order to be er co-ordinate and to provide a more consistent service.

The aim is to provide assistance to members where we can.

However, it should be made clear that we are unable to pro-vide any advice on nancial ma ers and we would recommend that you speak to a nancial adviser or accountant.

Contact us by post : Helpline, PO Box 10486, Oxton, NG24 9NL Or by Email Impacpension@gmail.com

Important Notice Whilst we are transferring the website between servers, our dedicated Email addresses will be suspended for a limited period. Please send all Emails to impacpension@gmail.com and we will then re-direct them to the correct destination. Thank you

IMPAC, c/o BPI Associates 18a Reynards Road Welwyn Herts AL6 9TP Email: impac@bpiassociates.co.uk

Telephone: 01438 840247

For changes to Impac membership details.

Please no fy Imperial Pension fund separately

Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund P O Box 3242 Winterstoke Road Bristol BS3 9GY Tel. 0117 9530000 Fax. 0117 9632860

Please note All new informa on must be provided to the Pension Fund O ce in wri ng please .