RHM Pension Scheme

RHM Pension Scheme

The RHM Pension Scheme was established in 1964 as the retirement plan for employees of Rank Hovis McDougall, the British food conglomerate. Its corporate trustee, RHM Pension Trust Limited, has been steered by director Jonathan Michael Rushton Clarke since 2005. Today the scheme's fortunes are tied to its sponsoring employer, Premier Foods plc — the FTSE-listed group behind brands like Mr Kipling and Bisto — against whose assets the scheme holds secured creditor rights. Duncan Leggett, Premier Foods' CFO, participates directly in pension deficit contribution talks. The scheme's investment portfolio spans three distinct pillars. A UK unlisted commercial real estate fund portfolio provides direct property exposure. A Liability Driven Investment (LDI) sleeve sits alongside it to match long-dated pension promises. Most notably, the scheme pursues an unusually broad private-market program, deploying across the full venture lifecycle — early-stage seed, start-up, growth, and expansion — as well as buyouts and general venture strategies. While specific direct holdings are not publicly itemized, the combination of LDI orthodoxy with an aggressive venture posture is uncommon among corporate pension funds of similar vintage. Oversight rests with RHM Pension Trust Limited, a private limited company incorporated alongside the scheme in 1964. The trustee board maintains a lean structure, with no dedicated investment staff publicly identified beyond director Jonathan Clarke and the direct involvement of the sponsor's CFO. The scheme's operational footprint remains anchored in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with no additional offices disclosed. In March 2026, Premier Foods appointed Matt Roberts as Chief Customer Officer in a newly created executive role reporting to CEO Alex Whitehouse, signalling continued corporate development at the sponsor level. What distinguishes the RHM Pension Scheme is its structural dual posture: a traditional UK defined-benefit plan with conventional LDI hedging, layered with an early-stage venture mandate unencumbered by the liquidity demands of an open DB scheme. The secured-covenant relationship with Premier Foods means the scheme's credit position sits inside the sponsor's capital structure, giving the trustee unusual leverage relative to unsecured corporate pension creditors — a structural feature shaped by decades of negotiation between the RHM legacy and its listed successor.