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25 March 2015

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NEST reaches 2 million members

NEST today (25 March) announced that it has now enrolled over 2 million members. The auto enrolment scheme has taken on 1 million workers in a year, doubling the number of members it is helping save for retirement.

Tim Jones, NEST CEO, says:
‘Just two and a half years ago auto enrolment entered the pension scene, helping millions of workers get started in a workplace pension. I’m delighted to see pension saving becoming the norm for the many, not just the few. NEST is doing what it was set up to do alongside the private sector – we have now enrolled over 2 million members and are working with over 13,000 employers. This is a great start and we are continuing to develop our tools and services to meet employer demand.’

NEST has enrolled 2 million members in just under 2 and a half years, translating to a new member joining NEST every 40 seconds.

Otto Thoresen, recently appointed NEST’s Trustee Chair, comments:
‘This is a major milestone for NEST but this is only part of a longer journey. This year 45,000 small and micro employers will need to automatically enrol their staff into a qualifying workplace pension, and that rises to over half a million employers in 2016.

NEST’s public service obligation means that we need to be ready for however many employers choose us. We’re working hard to ensure our systems are ready for ever increasing volumes. We look forward to continuing to work hand-in-hand with others in the industry to ensure auto enrolment continues to be a success.’

Pensions Minister Steve Webb said:
'Automatic enrolment has seen over 5m people enrolled into a pension for the first time or saving more for their retirement and is reshaping the British pensions culture after decades of downturn in retirement saving.

In just under a year, NEST has added an extra million members – this is a significant achievement and its role will be important as millions more working for smaller employers are automatically enrolled.'

Vijaya Deepti, Vice-President of TCS Financial Solutions (NEST’s scheme administrator), commented:
'We are delighted to play our part in delivering auto enrolment to 2 million workers. The scale and scope of delivering an auto enrolment platform for millions of workers made it ideally suited to a sophisticated digital-led approach. Developing the systems and processes to enrol 48,000 employees in a single week has been extremely rewarding and we are delighted with the success of the scheme to date. As the volume of employers continues to rise, we look forward to bringing new digital-led innovations to NEST to further improve the experience provided to members and employers.'  

Key stats about NEST’s membership

  • NEST’s membership reached 1 million on 01 April 2014
  • Four times the total audience for Wimbledon in 2014 (491,000 attended during the two week event)
  • Could fill every premier league stadium in the UK more than 2 and a half times (total capacity is 767,000)
  • If you spent a day with each of NEST’s members it would take you over 5,000 years to meet them all (5479.5 years)
  • Enrolling 2 million members in 2 and half years works out (on average) as a new NEST member every 40 seconds

Since you read this press release 3 more members were enrolled in NEST*
*based on 2 million members enrolled in 913 days works out (on average) as 91 members per hour and a new NEST member every 40 seconds. Press release contains 450 words, average reading speed of 200 words per minute equals 2 minutes to read, in which time 3 members would enrol, on average.

Key facts about NEST:

  • The workplace pension reforms mean most employers will have to automatically enrol workers into a workplace pension scheme that meets or exceeds certain standards. They’ll also need to make a minimum contribution for many of these workers.   
  • NEST, set up as part of the reforms, is a national defined contribution workplace pension scheme available to all employers to use to meet their new duties.
  • NEST has a public service obligation to accept any employer (whatever their size) who wants to use the scheme to meet their duties.
  • NEST is designed around the needs of people who are largely new to pension saving, with clear communications, low charges and easy online tools and services. It is run as a trust-based scheme and the Trustee has a legal duty to act in its members’ interests.
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